Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $152.97 and last traded at $152.58, with a volume of 24978 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $150.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. 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 boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Popular Stock Up 1.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $142.37 and its 200-day moving average is $132.65.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. This trade represents a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,951 shares of company stock worth $4,620,243 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

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.