Popular, Inc. $BPOP Shares Acquired by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,004,676 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,647 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.58% of Popular worth $164,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $168.19 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $171.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.68. The company has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.74 and a 12 month high of $179.24.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $878.41 million. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BPOP. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Popular from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $187.08.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, CEO Javier D. Ferrer sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.43, for a total transaction of $6,140,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 96,478 shares in the company, valued at $16,925,135.54. This represents a 26.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total transaction of $1,499,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,013 shares in the company, valued at $2,824,052.68. The trade was a 34.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,561 shares of company stock worth $9,392,259 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

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.