Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Plans $0.70 Quarterly Dividend

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%.

Popular has increased its dividend payment by an average of 13.5% per year over the last three years. Popular has a dividend payout ratio of 23.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Popular to earn $11.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.9%.

Popular Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:BPOP traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $100.32. 78,232 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 448,727. Popular has a one year low of $80.60 and a one year high of $106.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $98.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

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.