Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Sells 12,676 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. trimmed its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,042 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,676 shares during the period. Popular makes up approximately 1.3% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.40% of Popular worth $33,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Popular by 140.1% during the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,737,000 after acquiring an additional 26,354 shares during the period. Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Popular during the third quarter valued at about $29,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Popular by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,620,000 after acquiring an additional 23,584 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 187,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,369,000 after acquiring an additional 17,148 shares during the period. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Popular by 67.5% during the third quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 37,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after acquiring an additional 15,081 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BPOP. Citigroup boosted their price target on Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $168.73.

Popular Trading Up 1.3%

BPOP stock opened at $160.95 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.56 and a 1-year high of $161.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.25 and its 200-day moving average is $136.32.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 in the last three months. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.