Baron Wealth Management LLC Invests $227,000 in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Baron Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,264 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Popular by 249.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 32,845 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,904,000 after acquiring an additional 23,436 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,379 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,317 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 70.7% in the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 82,321 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,280,000 after purchasing an additional 34,107 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,104,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,283,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $95.85 on Tuesday. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.08 and a 12 month high of $105.01. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.10.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on 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 restated 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, Barclays decreased their price target on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.88.

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.