VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $5.34 Million in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 32,550 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,344,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.05% of Popular at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Popular by 23.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,715,000 after buying an additional 17,729 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Popular during the first quarter worth approximately $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 60.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,647,000 after buying an additional 84,327 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Popular during the first quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the second quarter worth $252,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $198.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Popular from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Popular from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $187.08.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $167.58 on Wednesday. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.74 and a 1-year high of $179.24. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $171.63 and a 200-day moving average of $154.78.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $846.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $878.41 million. Popular had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 21.37%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maria Ferre sold 3,385 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.42, for a total value of $593,796.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,781,565.52. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Adorno Rodriguez sold 600 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $101,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $420,624.68. This trade represents a 19.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 53,561 shares of company stock worth $9,392,259 over the last 90 days. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Popular 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.