Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $168.7273.

BPOP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th.

Trending Headlines about Popular

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Popular (BPOP) as a strong momentum stock and a potential top pick for momentum investors, which can attract trader and quant-driven buying. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: A second Zacks piece reinforced that BPOP screens well on style and momentum metrics, which may be helping sustain investor interest in the shares. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: TipRanks reported that Popular, Inc. disclosed a third-party cybersecurity incident affecting customers, but the available details suggest the issue is tied to a vendor rather than an internal breach. Investors may be watching for any financial, legal, or reputational fallout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent chatter about short interest showed no meaningful data change, so it does not appear to be a major price driver today.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $156.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.62. Popular has a one year low of $102.56 and a one year high of $159.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $147.26 and a 200-day moving average of $135.84.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Popular will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 34,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,188,200. This trade represents a 39.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 in the last 90 days. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,955,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 680,282 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,709,000 after purchasing an additional 312,984 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 2,752.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after purchasing an additional 301,494 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 12,382.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,191,000 after purchasing an additional 256,446 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.