Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.57.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $82.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.84. Popular has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.71%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its position in Popular by 6.7% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the first quarter valued at $710,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 132,933.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 3,988 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Popular by 27.3% during the first quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 18,223 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after buying an additional 3,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Popular by 589.9% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Company Profile

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.