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

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $133.7778.

BPOP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target for the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Popular from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP stock opened at $127.83 on Monday. Popular has a 52 week low of $78.23 and a 52 week high of $131.10. The company has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.18.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.10. Popular had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $803.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director owned 193,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,907,770. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,604 shares in the company, valued at $299,043.36. This represents a 27.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $457,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in Popular by 0.6% during the third quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 17,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.