Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $100.00 target price on the bank’s stock, down from their prior target price of $110.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.57.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $82.19 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.84. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $78.23 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s payout ratio is 32.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,286,832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $873,519,000 after purchasing an additional 56,222 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Popular by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $394,373,000 after acquiring an additional 201,067 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,475,000 after acquiring an additional 10,599 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Popular by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,908,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $179,505,000 after purchasing an additional 25,222 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,798 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.