Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,723 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 948 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Popular were worth $7,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 52.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,867,000 after purchasing an additional 286,450 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 235.5% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 332,093 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,299,000 after acquiring an additional 233,119 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 164,270 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Popular by 10.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,781,000 after acquiring an additional 113,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,115,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP traded down $2.82 on Friday, reaching $91.86. 98,964 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,263. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.01 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.22.

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

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the firm’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 value of $178,320.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Popular

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.