Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial has initiated coverage on Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $153.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.62% from the last closing price.
• Several analysts have rated Popular, with two "hold" ratings, eight "buy" ratings, and one "strong buy," leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $132.67.
• Popular recently reported quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations, showing a EPS of $3.09 against a consensus estimate of $2.60, alongside a revenue of $800.03 million.

Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $153.00 price target on the bank's stock. Truist Financial's price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.62% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Popular from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Popular from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $132.67.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $124.78 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $122.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.09. The firm has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.68. Popular has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $129.32.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $800.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $777.38 million. Popular had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 16.49%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 18,001 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.47, for a total transaction of $2,240,584.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,773 shares in the company, valued at $3,083,495.31. The trade was a 42.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the second quarter worth $93,578,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 52.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,432,599 shares of the bank's stock worth $129,722,000 after acquiring an additional 495,325 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 9,769.4% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,586,000 after acquiring an additional 265,728 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 363.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 228,028 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,131,000 after acquiring an additional 178,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Popular by 135.7% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 258,265 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,463,000 after purchasing an additional 148,682 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.