Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New $81,000 Investment in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 806 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $81,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Popular by 3.0% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,087 shares of the bank’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Popular by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 19,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Popular by 8.6% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the bank’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on BPOP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,569.72. The trade was a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $91.66 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.01 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.32. The stock has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.62 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid 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 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Popular Company 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.