Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.47 EPS

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47, Zacks reports. Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%.

Popular Trading Up 2.2 %

BPOP stock opened at $103.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.72 and a 200-day moving average of $97.21. Popular has a 12-month low of $80.60 and a 12-month high of $105.01. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group began coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

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