Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $159.95 and last traded at $156.15, with a volume of 541124 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $156.00.

Popular News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Popular (BPOP) as a strong momentum stock and a potential top pick for momentum investors, which can attract trader and quant-driven buying. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: A second Zacks piece reinforced that BPOP screens well on style and momentum metrics, which may be helping sustain investor interest in the shares. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: TipRanks reported that Popular, Inc. disclosed a third-party cybersecurity incident affecting customers, but the available details suggest the issue is tied to a vendor rather than an internal breach. Investors may be watching for any financial, legal, or reputational fallout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent chatter about short interest showed no meaningful data change, so it does not appear to be a major price driver today.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BPOP. Barclays boosted their price target on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.73.

Popular Stock Up 0.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $147.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.84. The company has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The company had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 140.1% during the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,737,000 after buying an additional 26,354 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Popular by 112.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,620,000 after purchasing an additional 23,584 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 187,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,369,000 after purchasing an additional 17,148 shares during the period. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Popular by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 37,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after purchasing an additional 15,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Company Profile

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.