Versor Investments LP Cuts Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Versor Investments LP trimmed its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 74.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,100 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,600 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Popular were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 15.2% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,507,000 after purchasing an additional 12,494 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Popular by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after buying an additional 71,782 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Popular by 284.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,260,000 after acquiring an additional 53,590 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Popular by 83.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Popular by 1,719.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,553,000 after acquiring an additional 35,699 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BPOP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Popular Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $100.43 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.60 and a twelve month high of $106.81. The stock has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $99.41 and a 200 day moving average of $97.98.

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

Popular Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

About Popular

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.