Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.62 Per Share

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 16th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the bank on Tuesday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 6th. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

Popular has increased its dividend by an average of 22.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Popular has a dividend payout ratio of 26.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Popular to earn $8.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.4%.

Popular Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $72.35 on Friday. Popular has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $73.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.60 and a 200-day moving average of $63.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 0.88.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $693.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.21 million. Popular had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 18.83%. The company’s revenue was down 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Popular will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.40, for a total transaction of $450,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,722.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Jorge J. Garcia sold 1,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total transaction of $87,018.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $613,365.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.40, for a total value of $450,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,722.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,850 shares of company stock valued at $905,507 in the last ninety days. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Popular by 474.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,531,550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $202,746,000 after buying an additional 2,916,412 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 394.0% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,108,132 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,249,000 after buying an additional 883,818 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 135.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,471,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,581,000 after buying an additional 846,247 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,880,331 shares of the bank’s stock worth $567,856,000 after acquiring an additional 816,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Popular by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,382,121 shares of the bank’s stock worth $251,579,000 after acquiring an additional 786,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Popular in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America started coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Popular from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Popular from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

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 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.