Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.25.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on Popular in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $101.58 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81. Popular has a 1 year low of $80.60 and a 1 year high of $105.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $96.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.21.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Popular’s payout ratio is 38.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. The trade was a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BPOP. TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,507,000 after acquiring an additional 12,494 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of Popular by 10.4% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,317 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the third 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 during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 83.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 279.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 38,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 28,574 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.