Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $174.79 and last traded at $174.1110, with a volume of 284875 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $172.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BPOP shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Popular from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Popular from $172.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $177.83.

Popular Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $159.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.21.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,955,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 680,282 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,709,000 after buying an additional 312,984 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 2,752.6% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,684,000 after buying an additional 301,494 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Popular by 12,382.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,191,000 after buying an additional 256,446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

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.