Wells Fargo & Company Increases Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Price Target to $105.00

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $99.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.81. Popular has a 52-week low of $74.97 and a 52-week high of $105.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.85.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Popular will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Popular in the first quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the 2nd quarter worth $1,268,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.