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

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $168.7273.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research cut Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $158.73 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.62. Popular has a 12 month low of $102.97 and a 12 month high of $162.97.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Popular will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Popular by 23.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,715,000 after buying an additional 17,729 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Popular during the first quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 60.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 84,327 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Popular during the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the second quarter valued at approximately $252,000. 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.