Squarepoint Ops LLC Invests $712,000 in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,339 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Popular during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $872,000. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the second quarter worth approximately $555,000. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in shares of Popular by 23.7% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 24,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,023,000 after buying an additional 4,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the second quarter worth approximately $5,344,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Popular from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.08.

Popular Trading Up 0.7%

BPOP stock opened at $162.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.90. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.74 and a 12-month high of $179.24. The firm has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.60.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $878.41 million. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total transaction of $1,499,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,052.68. This trade represents a 34.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Ferre sold 3,385 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.42, for a total transaction of $593,796.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,781,565.52. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 53,561 shares of company stock worth $9,392,259. 2.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Popular Profile

Popular, Inc (NASDAQ:BPOP) is a financial services holding company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded in 1893, the company operates primarily through Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, one of the largest banking institutions in Puerto Rico.

Banco Popular provides a broad range of financial products and services for individuals, businesses and government entities. Its offerings include deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgages, credit cards, auto financing, investment services, insurance and trust services.