Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Increases Dividend to $0.70 Per Share

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the bank on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

Popular has raised its dividend by an average of 12.4% per year over the last three years. Popular has a dividend payout ratio of 25.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Popular to earn $10.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.7%.

Popular Stock Down 0.2 %

Popular stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $95.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 496,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,941. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79. Popular has a twelve month low of $71.08 and a twelve month high of $105.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.10.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.62 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,242 shares of company stock worth $1,102,880. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BPOP. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.88.

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.