Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.70

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the bank on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

Popular has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.4% per year over the last three years. Popular has a payout ratio of 25.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Popular to earn $10.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.7%.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP stock opened at $95.85 on Tuesday. Popular has a 1-year low of $71.08 and a 1-year high of $105.01. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.10.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price target on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.88.

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.