Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,609 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 4,951 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Popular by 11.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 29,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Popular by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 2,795 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $769,000. Advisor Partners II LLC acquired a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $434,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in Popular during the third quarter worth $206,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Stock Up 1.5 %

BPOP stock opened at $90.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.52. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.46 and a 52 week high of $90.74.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.80%.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,260,092.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up previously from $103.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.89.

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.