Harbor Advisors LLC Grows Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,000 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Popular by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,475,000 after buying an additional 10,599 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Popular by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,192,000 after purchasing an additional 39,999 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Popular by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Popular by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,537,000 after purchasing an additional 67,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Popular by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 697,389 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,596,000 after purchasing an additional 93,262 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on BPOP shares. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.00.

Popular Stock Performance

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $91.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $98.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.12. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.60 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.