Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock Bumped Down to Hold by Zacks Research

by · The Markets Daily

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

BPOP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $198.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Popular from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $187.42.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Popular

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $156.29 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.63. Popular has a 52-week low of $108.74 and a 52-week high of $179.24.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $878.41 million. Popular had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 15.34%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Popular will post 15.70 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, Director Maria Ferre sold 3,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.42, for a total transaction of $593,796.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,781,565.52. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lidio Soriano sold 3,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $523,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 107,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,727,340. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 53,561 shares of company stock worth $9,392,259 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,004,676 shares of the bank’s stock worth $164,948,000 after purchasing an additional 18,647 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 719,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,561,000 after buying an additional 29,336 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 680,282 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,709,000 after buying an additional 312,984 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Popular by 24.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 556,630 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,684,000 after buying an additional 110,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Popular by 8.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 465,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,486,000 after buying an additional 35,226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

(Get Free Report)

Popular, Inc (NASDAQ:BPOP) is a financial services company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded in 1893, the company provides banking and related financial services primarily through Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, its principal subsidiary, and serves individuals, businesses and institutions.

Its products and services include consumer and commercial deposit accounts, personal and business loans, residential mortgages, credit cards, auto financing, investment and wealth-management services, insurance-related offerings and electronic banking solutions.

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