Vest Financial LLC Acquires 11,927 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 80.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,735 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 11,927 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Popular were worth $2,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter worth about $166,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 1,719.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,553,000 after buying an additional 35,699 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the bank's stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,674 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 4,044 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group began coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of Popular stock traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $102.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 510,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,471. The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.60 and a 12 month high of $106.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.70 and a 200 day moving average of $97.51.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. Equities analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Popular's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 32,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.