Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Sells $45,108.00 in Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Alejandro Sanchez sold 300 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Popular Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BPOP stock traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $152.34. 86,948 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 538,390. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.00 and a 12-month high of $152.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $142.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BPOP. Bank of America upgraded shares of Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Popular by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 465,720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,486,000 after purchasing an additional 35,226 shares in the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC purchased a new position in Popular during the first quarter valued at $389,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Popular by 615.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 38,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 32,719 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Popular by 20.3% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 79,921 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,723,000 after buying an additional 13,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Popular by 26.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,859,000 after buying an additional 41,833 shares during 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.