Citigroup Inc. Trims Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Citigroup Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,525 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 25,793 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Popular were worth $13,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 2.5% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,597 shares of the bank’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in Popular by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 17,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its position in Popular by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,267 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 6.6% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,613 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Down 5.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $135.36 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.23 and a 52 week high of $149.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 target price on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $156.55.

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.