Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 19.04% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BPOP. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Popular from $114.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.29.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $113.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.63. Popular has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $115.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.71.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 15.82% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total transaction of $52,215.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,604 shares in the company, valued at $376,365.72. This represents a 12.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total transaction of $728,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 27,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,851,561.48. The trade was a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Popular by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,798 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Popular by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,432,599 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,722,000 after purchasing an additional 495,325 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Popular by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,312,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,496,000 after purchasing an additional 459,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Popular by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank’s stock worth $394,373,000 after purchasing an additional 201,067 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.