Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Popular from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Popular from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $198.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $187.08.

Popular Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $167.58 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $171.63 and a 200 day moving average of $154.78. Popular has a 52 week low of $108.74 and a 52 week high of $179.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.60.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $878.41 million. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.09 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Popular will post 15.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, CEO Javier Ferrer sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.43, for a total transaction of $6,140,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 96,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,925,135.54. This represents a 26.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Ferre sold 3,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.42, for a total value of $593,796.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,781,565.52. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 53,561 shares of company stock worth $9,392,259. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,057,000 after buying an additional 64,778 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Popular by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 465,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,486,000 after buying an additional 35,226 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,955,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,916,000. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,841,000. Hedge funds and other 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.