Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,602 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Popular were worth $2,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Popular by 589.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Popular by 132,933.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Popular in the first quarter valued at $710,000. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Popular from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.13.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $125.24 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.65. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.68. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $129.32.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $800.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.38 million. Popular had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 12.48%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a sep 25 dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.1328 per share. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 18,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.47, for a total transaction of $2,240,584.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,773 shares in the company, valued at $3,083,495.31. This trade represents a 42.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Profile

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.