Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys Shares of 3,450 Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,450 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 26,354 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,115,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 68.6% during the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,043 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. bought a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter valued at approximately $653,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Popular by 13.4% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 77,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $146.90 on Monday. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.32 and a 12-month high of $149.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $138.19 and its 200 day moving average is $127.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.59.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 13.70%. The company had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.35%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $142.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.18.

Popular Company 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.