Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Gap Down to $85.25

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $85.25, but opened at $82.03. Popular shares last traded at $87.74, with a volume of 52,693 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BPOP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up from $103.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays started coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.22.

Popular Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.83.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.89. Popular had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $702.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.76 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, 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 value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,092.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Popular news, 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 value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,092.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 26,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,272,208.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Popular by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 30,898 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,947,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 6.7% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 1.1% during the third quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 31,792 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.3% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 112,543 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,091,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.