Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $115.96 and last traded at $115.21, with a volume of 26148 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $114.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a report on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Popular from $114.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $118.29.

Popular Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.63. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $104.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.23.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 15.82% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. Popular's payout ratio is currently 28.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total value of $728,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,851,561.48. The trade was a 20.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total value of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $376,365.72. The trade was a 12.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,286,832 shares of the bank's stock valued at $873,519,000 after acquiring an additional 56,222 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Popular by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank's stock worth $394,373,000 after buying an additional 201,067 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Popular by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,569,149 shares of the bank's stock worth $329,674,000 after buying an additional 34,322 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Popular by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,940,484 shares of the bank's stock worth $179,243,000 after buying an additional 32,078 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Popular by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,485,141 shares of the bank's stock worth $137,182,000 after buying an additional 66,412 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.