Earnest Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 707,321 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,426 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 1.06% of Popular worth $89,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Popular by 56.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter worth about $93,578,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 2,752.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,684,000 after purchasing an additional 301,494 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,990,000 after purchasing an additional 283,000 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 9,769.4% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,586,000 after purchasing an additional 265,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock opened at $130.38 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $134.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.51 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 24.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,992.50. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on BPOP shares. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price target on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $142.00 target price on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.55.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.