Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $185.25.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Popular from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total value of $1,499,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,052.68. The trade was a 34.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Luisa Ferre sold 3,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,781,565.52. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,261 shares of company stock valued at $2,672,543. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 30.5% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Xponance LLC boosted its position in Popular by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in Popular by 1.2% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 7,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Severin Investments LLC grew its stake in Popular by 1.9% in the first quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Popular by 1.7% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $176.14 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.14. The stock has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.61. Popular has a twelve month low of $108.74 and a twelve month high of $179.00.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The firm had revenue of $846.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $878.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that Popular will post 15.72 EPS for the current year.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.