Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

BPOP has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.57.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $89.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. Popular has a 52 week low of $78.23 and a 52 week high of $106.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.27.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. Analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.71%.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after acquiring an additional 71,782 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Popular by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Popular by 1,719.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 35,699 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Popular by 304.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 75,164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Company Profile

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.