Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $104.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Popular from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.63.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $90.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.28 and a 200 day moving average of $95.29. Popular has a 1-year low of $79.01 and a 1-year high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The business had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Popular by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after buying an additional 71,782 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Popular by 304.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,042,000 after acquiring an additional 75,164 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Popular in the third quarter worth $1,635,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter valued at $81,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,507,000 after purchasing an additional 12,494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.