Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.14.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hovde Group cut their price objective on shares of Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Popular Stock Up 0.4%

BPOP opened at $104.07 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.40. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $78.23 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Institutional Trading of Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Popular by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,446,000 after acquiring an additional 515,798 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Popular by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,312,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $123,496,000 after acquiring an additional 459,231 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Popular by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $394,373,000 after purchasing an additional 201,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 723,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,041,000 after purchasing an additional 175,327 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently 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.