Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research
by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets DailyPopular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.
A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BPOP. UBS Group upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $142.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.18.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on BPOP
Popular Trading Up 1.2%
Popular stock opened at $141.64 on Monday. Popular has a 1-year low of $79.63 and a 1-year high of $149.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.48.
Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The business had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $481,002.75. This represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Popular
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 140.1% in the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,737,000 after purchasing an additional 26,354 shares during the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the third quarter worth $29,115,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 68.6% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,043 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. bought a new stake in Popular in the third quarter worth $653,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Popular by 13.4% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 77,807 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,180 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Popular
Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.
The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.