Popular, Inc. (BPOP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 on April 1st

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. 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% indicating that 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 NASDAQ BPOP opened at $100.41 on Friday. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $80.60 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81. The company has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.93.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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. Company insiders own 2.13% 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.