Copeland Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,701 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $899,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,057,167,000 after purchasing an additional 37,424 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Popular by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,361,681 shares of the bank’s stock worth $543,117,000 after purchasing an additional 58,452 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Popular by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Popular by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after buying an additional 64,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Popular by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,043,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after buying an additional 88,765 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $171.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.74 and a 1-year high of $174.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.42.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Popular from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on Popular in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $201.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.83.

Popular News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark upgraded Popular, Inc. (BPOP) to strong-buy, which can boost investor confidence ahead of earnings and suggests Wall Street sees additional upside from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage from Zacks says Popular (BPOP) reports next week and that Wall Street expects earnings growth, but the setup does not look especially favorable for a clear earnings beat, keeping expectations balanced going into the release. Popular (BPOP) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Another brief note says Popular (BPOP) is expected to post earnings on Thursday, reinforcing that the stock is trading on pre-earnings anticipation rather than a new fundamental announcement. Popular (BPOP) Expected to Post Earnings on Thursday

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Popular Profile

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.