Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Barclays

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Popular in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.25.

Popular Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $91.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.10 and a 200 day moving average of $95.32. Popular has a twelve month low of $79.01 and a twelve month high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Popular will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Popular by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,867,000 after purchasing an additional 286,450 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 235.5% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 332,093 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,299,000 after acquiring an additional 233,119 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Popular by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,129,000 after acquiring an additional 164,270 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 10.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,781,000 after purchasing an additional 113,838 shares during the period. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth about $9,115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.