Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Raises Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 94.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,907 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,978 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $5,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,016,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,105,000 after purchasing an additional 171,391 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Popular by 21.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,382,121 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $251,579,000 after buying an additional 786,453 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Popular by 21.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,599,881 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $226,829,000 after buying an additional 642,694 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 474.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,531,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $202,746,000 after buying an additional 2,916,412 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,479,741 shares of the bank’s stock worth $199,772,000 after acquiring an additional 82,374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total transaction of $391,793.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,260,092.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Trading Up 1.7 %

BPOP opened at $83.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.82. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.32 and a 12 month high of $89.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.21.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.89. Popular had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $702.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.76 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.63.

Popular Company 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.