Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Sells 27,446 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lowered its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 247,480 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 27,446 shares during the quarter. Popular makes up 1.3% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Popular were worth $24,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Popular by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,781,000 after purchasing an additional 113,838 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 7.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after buying an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,537,000 after acquiring an additional 67,620 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,129,000 after acquiring an additional 164,270 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in Popular by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 629,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,124,000 after acquiring an additional 22,355 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In related news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Popular Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $99.36 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.79. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.80 and a 12-month high of $105.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.70.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. Popular’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BPOP. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.88.

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.