Popular (BPOP) Competitors

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) and Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, profitability, community ranking, institutional ownership and valuation.

Does the media prefer FCNCA or BPOP?

In the previous week, Popular had 9 more articles in the media than First Citizens BancShares. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Popular and 17 mentions for First Citizens BancShares. First Citizens BancShares' average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat Popular's score of 1.25 indicating that First Citizens BancShares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Citizens BancShares	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Popular	20 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend FCNCA or BPOP?

First Citizens BancShares currently has a consensus price target of $2,340.33, indicating a potential upside of 26.44%. Popular has a consensus price target of $114.43, indicating a potential upside of 10.68%. Given First Citizens BancShares' higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe First Citizens BancShares is more favorable than Popular.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Citizens BancShares	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Popular	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is FCNCA or BPOP a better dividend stock?

First Citizens BancShares pays an annual dividend of $7.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Popular pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. First Citizens BancShares pays out 4.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Popular pays out 28.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. First Citizens BancShares has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Popular has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of FCNCA or BPOP?

78.0% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Popular shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.4% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Popular shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FCNCA or BPOP?

Popular received 276 more outperform votes than First Citizens BancShares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.50% of users gave Popular an outperform vote while only 54.83% of users gave First Citizens BancShares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Citizens BancShares	Outperform Votes 193 54.83%	Underperform Votes 159 45.17%
Popular	Outperform Votes 469 65.50%	Underperform Votes 247 34.50%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FCNCA or BPOP?

First Citizens BancShares has higher revenue and earnings than Popular. First Citizens BancShares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Popular, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Citizens BancShares	$9.59B	2.57	$2.78B	$174.64	10.60
Popular	$2.84B	2.50	$612.80M	$9.69	10.67

Which has more volatility and risk, FCNCA or BPOP?

First Citizens BancShares has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Popular has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FCNCA or BPOP more profitable?

First Citizens BancShares has a net margin of 18.55% compared to Popular's net margin of 14.15%. First Citizens BancShares' return on equity of 13.22% beat Popular's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Citizens BancShares	18.55%	13.22%	1.30%
Popular	14.15%	11.89%	0.90%

Summary

First Citizens BancShares beats Popular on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.