California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,499 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,157 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.23% of Popular worth $20,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BPOP. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Popular by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $173.89 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.74 and a 1-year high of $174.79. The stock has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.56.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BPOP shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Popular from $172.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $177.83.

About Popular

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.