Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Receives $156.55 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $159.0909.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BPOP. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 target price on the stock. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price target on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Popular Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $130.66 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.96. Popular has a 12-month low of $78.23 and a 12-month high of $149.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.55 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.During the same period last year, the company earned $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,611,992.50. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Xponance LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the bank’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 2.5% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,597 shares of the bank’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in Popular by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 17,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Popular by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Popular by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,824,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

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.