Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock Price

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price target lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $116.00 to $129.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Popular Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $102.94 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.81. Popular has a 1 year low of $80.60 and a 1 year high of $106.46.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,325 shares of company stock worth $1,565,581. 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 company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Popular by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,475,000 after acquiring an additional 10,599 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Popular by 8.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,537,000 after purchasing an additional 67,620 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 3.7% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 629,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,124,000 after purchasing an additional 22,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Popular by 18.3% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 548,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,954,000 after buying an additional 84,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.