Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock Rated “Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $186.83.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BPOP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $198.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Monday, October 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 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 report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Popular from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, CEO Javier D. Ferrer sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.43, for a total value of $6,140,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,478 shares in the company, valued at $16,925,135.54. This represents a 26.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Rodriguez sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $101,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,492 shares in the company, valued at $420,624.68. This represents a 19.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,600 shares of company stock valued at $6,764,824. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Popular by 1.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,004,676 shares of the bank’s stock worth $164,948,000 after buying an additional 18,647 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Popular by 24.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 556,630 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,684,000 after buying an additional 110,887 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Popular by 8.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 465,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,486,000 after buying an additional 35,226 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Popular during the second quarter worth about $54,916,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Popular by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 313,417 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,721,000 after acquiring an additional 60,704 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $156.52 on Friday. Popular has a 1 year low of $109.01 and a 1 year high of $179.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $160.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.94. The company has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $4.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.26. Popular had a return on equity of 16.08% and a net margin of 22.36%. The company had revenue of $874.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Popular will post 16.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.68%.

About Popular

Popular, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded in 1893, it provides banking and other financial services primarily in Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland.

Its principal subsidiary, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, serves individuals and businesses with consumer and commercial banking, mortgage lending, and related financial services. Popular also operates Popular Bank in the mainland United States and provides auto financing through Popular Auto.

Ignacio Alvarez is Popular’s president and chief executive officer.