Analysts Set Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target at $106.00

Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $106.00.

A number of analysts have weighed in on BPOP shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Popular from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $98.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $96.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.11. Popular has a 52-week low of $75.63 and a 52-week high of $105.01.

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

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.04%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. The trade was a 35.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Popular

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