Truist Financial Increases Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target to $197.00

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price target lifted by analysts at Truist Financial from $192.00 to $197.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the bank’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 14.56% from the company’s previous close.

BPOP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.42.

Popular Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:BPOP traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $171.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 218,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,681. Popular has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $175.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.35 and a 200-day moving average of $145.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.66. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $846.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $865.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Popular will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Popular by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,057,167,000 after acquiring an additional 37,424 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Popular by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,361,681 shares of the bank’s stock worth $543,117,000 after purchasing an additional 58,452 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 64,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,043,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after purchasing an additional 88,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Popular

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Popular beat Q2 expectations with earnings of $4.35 per share versus $3.69 expected, while net income rose 13% year over year, signaling solid operating momentum. Popular Q2 earnings and conference call
• Positive Sentiment: Management also announced a higher quarterly dividend and a new share buyback program, which can support shareholder returns and confidence in capital strength. Popular announces capital actions
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on BPOP to $207 from $190 and reiterated an outperform rating, implying further upside. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods price target increase
• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark also lifted its target to $214 from $201 and maintained a buy rating, reinforcing the market’s bullish view after earnings. Benchmark price target increase
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also digesting Popular’s leadership transition and capital plan update, which adds some execution uncertainty but does not appear to have changed the overall positive tone. Popular capital plan and leadership transition
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue came in slightly below consensus at $846.92 million versus $865.61 million expected, which is a modest offset to the earnings beat. Popular Q2 earnings and conference call

Popular Company Profile

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.