Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $7.26 Million Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 284.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 53,590 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Popular were worth $7,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Popular in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Popular in the second quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Popular by 16.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BPOP. Piper Sandler lowered their target price 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 reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.88.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $98.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.24. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.08 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.79.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.62 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be 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 yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.