Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $169.14 and last traded at $168.5160, with a volume of 368445 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $164.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.18.

Popular Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $153.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.08. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Popular by 140.1% during the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,737,000 after buying an additional 26,354 shares during the period. Ceeto Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Popular by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,620,000 after acquiring an additional 23,584 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 187,671 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,369,000 after acquiring an additional 17,148 shares during the period. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 37,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after acquiring an additional 15,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

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.