Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock Price

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $135.00 to $163.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

BPOP has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Hovde Group lifted their target price 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. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.09.

Popular Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $130.66 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.64 and a 200 day moving average of $125.96. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61. Popular has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Popular

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Popular by 23.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,715,000 after buying an additional 17,729 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter worth $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 60.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,647,000 after acquiring an additional 84,327 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at about $252,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.