Benchmark Upgrades Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) to “Strong-Buy”

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) was upgraded by investment analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BPOP. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Popular from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Popular from $172.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.83.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $173.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $157.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.22. Popular has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $174.69. The stock has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Popular will post 15.05 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Xponance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 1.2% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 7,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Severin Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Popular by 1.9% in the first quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Popular by 1.7% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Popular

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark Co. upgraded Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPOP) to strong-buy, a bullish signal that can attract buyers and support further gains. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is set to report earnings next week, and Wall Street expects year-over-year earnings growth. That can keep investors focused on the upcoming results, although one Zacks note says the setup is not ideal for an earnings beat. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: An article noted that Popular, Inc. (BPOP) is expected to post earnings on Thursday, reinforcing that the stock may trade on anticipation ahead of the report. Article Title

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.