Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Popular from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.56.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $116.55 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $120.65 and its 200 day moving average is $113.95. Popular has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $129.32. The firm has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.72.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $817.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $803.95 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.46% and a net margin of 17.63%.The company’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 18,001 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.47, for a total value of $2,240,584.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,083,495.31. This represents a 42.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Popular by 29.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 405,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,458,000 after purchasing an additional 92,820 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,634 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Popular by 41.3% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 170,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,658,000 after purchasing an additional 49,823 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Popular during the third quarter worth about $474,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 434.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,198,000 after purchasing an additional 39,668 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.