Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $133.5556.

BPOP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research cut shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Hovde Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, August 29th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $2,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 193,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,907,770. This trade represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. The trade was a 27.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Popular by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,597 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in Popular by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 17,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 1.3% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 0.5% in the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,267 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,115,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Popular by 6.2% during the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $123.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $115.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.54. The company has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. Popular has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $129.32.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.10. Popular had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.63%.The company had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $803.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

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.