Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

BPOP has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.63.

Popular Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:BPOP traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $103.72. The company had a trading volume of 539,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,222. Popular has a 1 year low of $80.60 and a 1 year high of $106.46. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.03 and a 200 day moving average of $97.35.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. On average, analysts forecast that Popular will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Popular

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 15.2% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,507,000 after buying an additional 12,494 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 71,782 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 279.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 38,798 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after acquiring an additional 28,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Popular by 284.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,260,000 after acquiring an additional 53,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

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.