Summit Global Investments Lowers Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Summit Global Investments reduced its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 31.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,319 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,656 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Popular were worth $1,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 24,037 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,754 shares of the bank’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth $6,039,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,247 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 56.7% in 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 period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.00.

Popular Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BPOP opened at $91.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.12. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.60 and a 12-month high of $106.81.

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

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.