Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 32.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,667 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,036 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Popular were worth $8,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Popular by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,495 shares of the bank’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 33.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the first quarter worth $249,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 15.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 375,653 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,161,000 after acquiring an additional 49,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 164.0% during the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 10,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 6,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total value of $114,840.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. This represents a 27.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $2,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 193,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,907,770. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BPOP. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Popular in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Hovde Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.56.

Popular Trading Up 3.0%

BPOP opened at $120.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.67. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.23 and a 12 month high of $129.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $116.28 and a 200 day moving average of $115.90.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $720.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $803.95 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.63%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

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.