nVerses Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,881,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Popular by 57.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,732 shares of the bank’s stock worth $88,859,000 after purchasing an additional 366,870 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 395.0% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 429,197 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,224,000 after purchasing an additional 342,492 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Popular in the first quarter worth $19,997,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Popular by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,240,000 after purchasing an additional 216,855 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total value of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,387.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total value of $429,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,145,856. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total transaction of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,387.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Popular Stock Performance

NASDAQ BPOP traded up $1.22 on Friday, reaching $102.50. 330,451 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 374,661. The firm has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.38. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $751.57 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 8.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BPOP shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Monday, August 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

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.