Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $179.00 and last traded at $177.87, with a volume of 42380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BPOP shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $198.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

Popular Trading Up 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.48.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $846.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $878.41 million. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total transaction of $1,499,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,052.68. This trade represents a 34.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 53,261 shares of company stock worth $9,336,093. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 56.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $104,955,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Popular in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,916,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Popular by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 680,282 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,709,000 after buying an additional 312,984 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Popular by 2,752.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after buying an additional 301,494 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.