Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the bank’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.38% from the company’s current price.

BPOP has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.75.

Popular Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Popular stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,538. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.81. Popular has a 1-year low of $74.97 and a 1-year high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the first quarter worth $1,104,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Popular by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Popular in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in Popular by 43.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,268,000. Institutional investors 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.