Analysts Set Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) PT at $108.25

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.63.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BPOP shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $103.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81. Popular has a 1-year low of $80.60 and a 1-year high of $106.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.35.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. Equities analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Popular by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,374 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,114,000 after acquiring an additional 13,504 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Popular by 594.2% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 5,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Popular by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 26,735 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 11,927 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Company Profile

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.