Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Receives Outperform Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $110.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of $103.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BPOP. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Popular from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $99.22.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $88.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.83. Popular has a 12 month low of $52.32 and a 12 month high of $89.70.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.89. The company had revenue of $702.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.76 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.95%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total transaction of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Popular news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total transaction of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,881,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Popular by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,599,881 shares of the bank’s stock worth $226,829,000 after buying an additional 642,694 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Popular by 395.0% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 429,197 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,224,000 after buying an additional 342,492 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Popular by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 726,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,792,000 after buying an additional 286,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc lifted its holdings in Popular by 145.1% during the 3rd quarter. rhino investment partners Inc now owns 478,004 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,119,000 after buying an additional 283,004 shares during the last quarter. 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.