Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.89.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,648,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Popular by 661.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,795 shares of the bank's stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 9,377 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Popular by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,729 shares of the bank's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in Popular by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 114,237 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,960,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Popular by 164.8% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the bank's stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:BPOP traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 264,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,979. Popular has a 1 year low of $52.32 and a 1 year high of $89.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.61 and a 200-day moving average of $79.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.82.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 11.95% and a return on equity of 11.95%. On average, analysts expect that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.80%.

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.