Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.1818.

A number of research firms have weighed in on BPOP. Citigroup upped their price target on Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Popular from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,057,167,000 after buying an additional 37,424 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,361,681 shares of the bank’s stock worth $543,117,000 after acquiring an additional 58,452 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,452 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Popular by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after acquiring an additional 64,778 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Popular by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,043,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after purchasing an additional 88,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP opened at $167.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.61. Popular has a 12 month low of $108.74 and a 12 month high of $170.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.40.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Popular will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

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.