R Squared Ltd Invests $166,000 in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,760 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $166,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at about $444,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Popular by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in Popular by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $569,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,630 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 5,287 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $103.72 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $97.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.35. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $80.60 and a one year high of $106.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. On average, analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BPOP. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Popular in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.