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

Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $173.1818.

BPOP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 in the last ninety days. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Popular by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $170.56 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.96. Popular has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $171.73. The stock has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Popular will post 15 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

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

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.