Cibc World Markets Corp Takes $6.04 Million Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 64,200 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,039,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BPOP. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 284.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,260,000 after buying an additional 53,590 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $443,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 19,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP opened at $90.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.27. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.60 and a 52-week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. Research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

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.