Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) is Polaris Capital Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Polaris Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,565,478 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 145,900 shares during the quarter. Popular accounts for 7.1% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Polaris Capital Management LLC owned 2.20% of Popular worth $147,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,475,000 after buying an additional 10,599 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 7.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Popular by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,537,000 after purchasing an additional 67,620 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Popular by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 629,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,124,000 after buying an additional 22,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Popular by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 548,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,954,000 after buying an additional 84,839 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Popular Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $101.48 on Tuesday. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.60 and a 12-month high of $106.46. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.51.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Popular’s payout ratio is 32.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business’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 transaction of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.