Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Coverage Initiated at UBS Group

Analysts at UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the bank’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.53% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Popular from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.63.

Popular Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $90.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.33. Popular has a 12-month low of $79.01 and a 12-month high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The company had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. Popular’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Popular will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Popular by 52.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,867,000 after purchasing an additional 286,450 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Popular by 235.5% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 332,093 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,299,000 after buying an additional 233,119 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,129,000 after acquiring an additional 164,270 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,781,000 after acquiring an additional 113,838 shares during the period. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth about $9,115,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.