Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Bought by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 52.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 286,450 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.16% of Popular worth $73,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,881,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,732 shares of the bank’s stock worth $88,859,000 after purchasing an additional 366,870 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 395.0% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 429,197 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,224,000 after purchasing an additional 342,492 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth approximately $19,997,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Popular by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,240,000 after purchasing an additional 216,855 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $99.68 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.69. The company has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.38. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $751.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total transaction of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,387.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Popular in a research report on Monday, August 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Popular from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Popular has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Popular 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.