Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.47 EPS

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $103.72 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $97.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81. Popular has a 12-month low of $80.60 and a 12-month high of $106.46.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

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