Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by Interval Partners LP

Interval Partners LP lessened its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 48.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,013 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 29,028 shares during the quarter. Interval Partners LP’s holdings in Popular were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 8.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 4,699 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 304.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 75,164 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 20,966 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 104,087 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Hovde Group cut their price target on Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.14.

Popular Stock Down 0.2%

BPOP opened at $100.31 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.67 and a 200-day moving average of $95.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.23 and a 12-month high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.90%.

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.