Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Acquires 34,537 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 75,509 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,537 shares during the period. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust’s holdings in Popular were worth $7,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Popular during the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Popular by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BPOP shares. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.88.

Popular Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $89.48 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.19 and a 52 week high of $105.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.35.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced 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). Popular had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 12.36%. The firm had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Popular’s payout ratio is 33.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total transaction of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,920,387.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.