Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $104.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $93.88 on Tuesday. Popular has a one year low of $79.01 and a one year high of $105.01. The company has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.33.

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

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 38.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of Popular stock in a transaction 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 $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Popular by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Popular by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 19,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in Popular during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 8.6% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the bank’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Popular Company Profile

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.