Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera Sells 6,200 Shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP stock opened at $148.37 on Wednesday. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $97.08 and a 1 year high of $152.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $822.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BPOP. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $168.73.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Several 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 acquired a new position in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,115,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Popular by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after buying an additional 7,043 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at about $653,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Popular by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,620,000 after buying an additional 23,584 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.