Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 18,721 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 74,594 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 18,721 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $9,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after buying an additional 1,065,452 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at $104,955,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Popular by 85.2% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 680,282 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,709,000 after acquiring an additional 312,984 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Popular by 2,752.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,684,000 after acquiring an additional 301,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 12,382.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 256,446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $3,450,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Popular Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $165.79 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.74 and a 12 month high of $169.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $152.15 and its 200 day moving average is $139.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The business had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Popular from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.18.

Popular Profile

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.