First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 312,331 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 11,531 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.46% of Popular worth $34,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Popular by 2,158.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 112.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Popular by 3,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 483 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $116.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $116.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.87. 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 data on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.10. Popular had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $803.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $2,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 193,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,907,770. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total value of $114,840.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. The trade was a 27.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.56.

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.