Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 12,284 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 28.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,751 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,284 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.08% of Popular worth $6,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. bought a new position in Popular during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 2,158.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 112.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in Popular in the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Popular by 3,925.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 483 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $114.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.72. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.23 and a fifty-two week high of $129.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.18.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.10. Popular had a return on equity of 13.46% and a net margin of 17.63%.The company had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $803.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. The trade was a 27.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 18,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.47, for a total value of $2,240,584.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,773 shares in the company, valued at $3,083,495.31. This trade represents a 42.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,001 shares of company stock valued at $5,192,924. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Hovde Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.56.

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.