Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $169.14 and last traded at $168.5160, with a volume of 368445 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $164.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $171.18.

Popular Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $152.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.42.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Popular

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Popular by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,057,167,000 after purchasing an additional 37,424 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Popular by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,361,681 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $543,117,000 after purchasing an additional 58,452 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 64,778 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Popular by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,043,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after purchasing an additional 88,765 shares during the period. 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.