Brokerages Set Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) PT at $104.88

Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $104.88.

A number of analysts have recently commented on BPOP shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Popular Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $95.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.15. Popular has a 12-month low of $71.08 and a 12-month high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. Popular’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Popular’s payout ratio is 33.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Popular by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,475,000 after buying an additional 10,599 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Popular by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,781,000 after acquiring an additional 113,838 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,769,000 after acquiring an additional 71,782 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Popular by 8.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,537,000 after purchasing an additional 67,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 23.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,129,000 after purchasing an additional 164,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.