Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $1.35 Million Investment in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,840 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Popular by 198.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Popular by 117.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 540 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Popular by 84.2% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BPOP shares. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price target on Popular in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock opened at $149.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.00 and a fifty-two week high of $152.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $143.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.44.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

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.