Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $156.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BPOP. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their target price on Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.36.

Popular Trading Up 3.5%

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $141.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $124.67 and a 200-day moving average of $121.08. Popular has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $141.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 18.75%.The firm had revenue of $815.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. This represents a 27.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value of $2,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 193,020 shares in the company, valued at $21,907,770. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,360 shares of company stock worth $3,265,040. Company insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,452 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at $93,578,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Popular by 2,752.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,684,000 after purchasing an additional 301,494 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Popular by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,990,000 after purchasing an additional 283,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 9,769.4% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,586,000 after purchasing an additional 265,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Popular

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded BPOP from Neutral to Buy and set a $156 price target, signaling street confidence in further upside from current levels. Bank of America Upgrade (Finviz)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks published a piece framing Popular as a strong value stock, reinforcing the narrative that the shares trade at attractive multiples (low P/E and PEG) relative to earnings growth expectations. Zacks: Here’s Why Popular is a Strong Value Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage continues to highlight Popular’s January quarter beat (EPS and revenue slightly above estimates), solid margins and a healthy dividend — all fundamentals that support higher valuations and the recent cluster of upward price targets. MarketBeat: Popular stock overview & analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Popular’s Q4 earnings call — including the top analyst questions — is providing more context on management’s outlook and capital deployment priorities; useful for investors but not an immediate catalyst on its own. Yahoo: 5 Most Interesting Analyst Questions From Popular’s Q4 Call
• Negative Sentiment: Director Alejandro Ballester sold 2,360 shares (around $312.7k at reported prices), a publicly disclosed insider sale that some investors may view as a modest red flag on insider conviction despite his large remaining holding. InsiderTrades: Insider selling alert

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.