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

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $184.4167.

A number of research firms have commented on BPOP. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Popular from $201.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th.

Popular News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Favorable momentum profile: Zacks identifies BPOP as a top-ranked momentum stock, highlighting its recent price strength and potential for continued market outperformance. Popular BPOP is a Top-Ranked Momentum Stock: Should You Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Value appeal: A separate Zacks analysis classifies Popular as a strong value stock, which may attract investors given its relatively low valuation, including a price-to-earnings ratio of approximately 11.8 and a PEG ratio below 1. Here’s Why Popular BPOP is a Strong Value Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings beat: Popular reported quarterly earnings of $4.35 per share, well above the $3.72 analyst consensus and up from $3.09 a year earlier. Its 15.47% return on equity and 21.37% net margin also indicate solid profitability.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed quarterly revenue: Revenue of $846.9 million fell short of the $878.4 million consensus estimate, limiting the strength of the earnings-related catalyst. Analysts nevertheless expect approximately $15.72 in full-year earnings per share.
• Neutral Sentiment: Limited company-specific news: The other articles in the supplied news flow concern unrelated companies, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, or general-interest topics and do not appear to affect BPOP directly.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $175.13 on Friday. Popular has a one year low of $108.74 and a one year high of $176.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $162.93 and its 200-day moving average is $147.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $878.41 million. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Popular will post 15.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Popular by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,715,000 after purchasing an additional 17,729 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter worth approximately $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 60.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 84,327 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Popular during the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Popular during the second quarter valued at approximately $252,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.