Wells Fargo & Company Raises Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target to $163.00

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $135.00 to $163.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 21.49% from the company’s previous close.

BPOP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.09.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $134.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61. Popular has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $149.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $135.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.03.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.The company had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,611,992.50. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at $481,002.75. This represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 140.1% during the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,737,000 after buying an additional 26,354 shares during the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,115,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,198,000 after buying an additional 7,043 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. acquired a new stake in Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $653,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Popular by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 77,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,882,000 after acquiring an additional 9,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.