Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,192,769 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 201,067 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 5.88% of Popular worth $394,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 326 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Popular during the third quarter valued at $81,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $166,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ BPOP remained flat at $95.94 during trading on Friday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 593,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,823. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.23 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $91.11 and a 200-day moving average of $95.26.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. Equities analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Popular's payout ratio is currently 28.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.14.

Popular Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.