Hovde Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Hovde Group from $153.00 to $176.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Hovde Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 32.08% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BPOP. Truist Financial started coverage on Popular in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on Popular in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.00.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $133.25 on Wednesday. Popular has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $134.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $123.28 and its 200 day moving average is $120.49. The stock has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The business had revenue of $815.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Popular

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Popular by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,759 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Popular by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 540,646 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,321,000 after purchasing an additional 118,496 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,057,167,000 after purchasing an additional 37,424 shares during the period. Quent Long Short Global Small Cap Fund LP bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $314,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,278 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 1,713 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Popular

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target on Popular to $164 and reiterated a “buy” rating, implying meaningful upside from current levels. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Hovde Group raised its target to $176 and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling another bullish analyst view and additional upside potential from current prices.
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat: analysts and media note the EPS beat and higher net interest income, fee growth and rising loan balances as the primary drivers of the outperformance. Zacks: Popular Stock Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage pieces provide deeper context on the beat and outlook — highlighting loan growth, deposit trends and efficiency initiatives that underpin the guidance and margin outlook. Yahoo Finance Deep Dive
• Neutral Sentiment: Company presentation and earnings call materials were posted for Q4 and provide management commentary on strategy, capital return and efficiency targets — useful for modeling forward earnings. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines (Investing.com, MSN) recap the EPS beat and market reaction; these summarize the same catalysts rather than adding new drivers. Investing.com: Earnings Recap
• Neutral Sentiment: An unrelated article about DIY solar adoption mentions “popular” trends in Germany but is not company-specific and should not affect BPOP fundamentals. Financial Post: DIY Solar

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.