Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) PT Raised to $113.00 at Hovde Group

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price target hoisted by Hovde Group from $112.00 to $113.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Hovde Group currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BPOP. StockNews.com raised Popular from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays began coverage on Popular in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Popular from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $99.89.

Popular Stock Down 1.5 %

BPOP stock opened at $86.58 on Wednesday. Popular has a twelve month low of $52.32 and a twelve month high of $89.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.61 and its 200-day moving average is $79.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.82.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.89. Popular had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 11.95%. The company had revenue of $702.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.76 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at $2,272,208.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at $90,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Popular by 55.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at $139,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.