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

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.00.

Several brokerages have weighed in on BPOP. Hovde Group increased their target price on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Popular in a report on Monday, August 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total value of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,387.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Popular

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,881,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 57.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,859,000 after purchasing an additional 366,870 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 395.0% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 429,197 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,224,000 after purchasing an additional 342,492 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 52.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,867,000 after buying an additional 286,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth $19,997,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $100.62 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.11. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $751.57 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Popular’s payout ratio is 36.80%.

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.