Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target Raised to $116.00

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $103.00 to $116.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on BPOP. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.00.

Popular Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $99.15 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $96.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.91. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.81. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $75.17 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The business had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 33.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,475,000 after purchasing an additional 10,599 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Popular by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,781,000 after acquiring an additional 113,838 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after acquiring an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Popular by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,537,000 after acquiring an additional 67,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,129,000 after purchasing an additional 164,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.