Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target Raised to $113.00 at Hovde Group

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price objective lifted by Hovde Group from $112.00 to $113.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on BPOP. Barclays started coverage on Popular in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. 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 report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Popular from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $99.22.

Popular Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $88.36 on Wednesday. Popular has a twelve month low of $52.32 and a twelve month high of $89.70. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.83.

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

Popular Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,092.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 55.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Company Profile

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.