Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $115.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

BPOP has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $99.89.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock opened at $86.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.05. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.82. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $52.32 and a fifty-two week high of $89.70.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $702.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.76 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.95%. On average, analysts predict that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,260,092.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total transaction of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total transaction of $391,793.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $83,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Popular by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $90,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $139,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.