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

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

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Popular from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Popular from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $99.89.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $86.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.05. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.89. The firm had revenue of $702.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.76 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.95%. On average, equities analysts predict that Popular will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s payout ratio 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 dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total transaction of $391,793.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,260,092.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,260,092.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth about $83,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Popular by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $90,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $139,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.