Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, FinViz reports. They presently have a $105.00 target price on the bank’s stock, down from their previous target price of $115.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.72% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BPOP. Hovde Group upped their target price on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Monday, August 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.11.

Popular Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Popular stock opened at $100.27 on Tuesday. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.52. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.78.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $751.57 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total value of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,387.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 57.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,859,000 after purchasing an additional 366,870 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 395.0% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 429,197 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,224,000 after acquiring an additional 342,492 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Popular by 52.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,867,000 after purchasing an additional 286,450 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Popular in the first quarter worth about $19,997,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Popular by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,240,000 after purchasing an additional 216,855 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.