Popular, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.70 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th.

Popular has increased its dividend by an average of 13.5% annually over the last three years. Popular has a payout ratio of 23.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Popular to earn $11.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.9%.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $90.11 on Friday. Popular has a 52-week low of $80.60 and a 52-week high of $106.81. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $98.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.52.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.