Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target Raised to $113.00 at Hovde Group

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price objective upped by Hovde Group from $112.00 to $113.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on BPOP. Citigroup upped their price objective on Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Popular from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $99.89.

Popular Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $86.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.15. Popular has a 52-week low of $52.32 and a 52-week high of $89.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.82.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.89. Popular had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.95%. The firm had revenue of $702.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.76 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total transaction of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,272,208.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Popular by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,016,116 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,105,000 after buying an additional 171,391 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Popular by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,108,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $337,213,000 after buying an additional 19,849 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Popular by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,240,000 after buying an additional 216,855 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,881,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Popular by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 733,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,163,000 after buying an additional 21,386 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.