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

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $187.0833.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BPOP. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $198.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Popular from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, Director Maria Ferre sold 3,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.42, for a total value of $593,796.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,156 shares in the company, valued at $1,781,565.52. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Javier D. Ferrer sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.43, for a total transaction of $6,140,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,925,135.54. The trade was a 26.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,561 shares of company stock valued at $9,392,259 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Popular by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,057,000 after acquiring an additional 64,778 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Popular by 1.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,004,676 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $164,948,000 after acquiring an additional 18,647 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Popular by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,043,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after acquiring an additional 88,765 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter worth about $104,955,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 719,253 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,561,000 after purchasing an additional 29,336 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $162.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $170.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.90. The stock has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.60. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $108.74 and a fifty-two week high of $179.24.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The company had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $878.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Popular will post 15.72 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 24.32%.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc (NASDAQ:BPOP) is a financial services holding company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded in 1893, the company operates primarily through Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, one of the largest banking institutions in Puerto Rico.

Banco Popular provides a broad range of financial products and services for individuals, businesses and government entities. Its offerings include deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgages, credit cards, auto financing, investment services, insurance and trust services.