Burney Co. Grows Stake in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Burney Co. boosted its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 134.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,557 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 27,837 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Popular were worth $6,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Popular by 2,158.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Popular by 112.2% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Popular by 3,925.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 483 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Popular in the 1st quarter valued at $84,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. This trade represents a 27.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $2,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 193,020 shares in the company, valued at $21,907,770. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $126.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $116.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.47. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.23 and a 12 month high of $129.32.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $803.95 million. Popular had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

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.