Alejandro Sanchez Sells 1,451 Shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Alejandro Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the sale, the director owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at $481,002.75. The trade was a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $136.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.92. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.23 and a 12-month high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 18.75%.The company had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.51 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 70.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Popular by 2,158.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BPOP. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.55.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.