Popular, Inc. (BPOP)

Passes an earnings surprise value screen

Risky pick but with some luck it may come back.

Popular is one of three speculative plays that I'm adding to CAPS. DragonLZ has identified quite a few in his blogs that might be the second wave of speculation by investors. Most of his calls are overly speculative and balance sheets are in tatters. Most beaten down companies are often ones that are losing money and may not return to former glory anytime soon. Several have instituted severe cost cutting to turn back profitable, but this is not always a long term solution if customer expectations are under met or if products cannot be made profitably. BPOP is a bank Puerto Rico, the United States, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic offering a full range of banking/loan/insurance products. The losses on the balance sheet are difficult to calculate. BPOP has managed to hold reserves and has slowed it's losses. While it will not be an $18 stock again anytime soon, I do agree that it has the potential to be a multi-bagger or a casualty. It will NOT stay in this trading range. I give it better odds of recovery than crashing, but it's highly speculative.

All other financial's are more than outperforming...for Bacno it's just a matter of time. If AIG, FRE, FNM and C can do it. So can this one. It has lived through the storm of this century, and no one is hinting at failure at all; only success as they revamp and continue to till they lessen the debt load when times get better.

They have historically been a well-run company. They have gotten hit during this downturn, but will survive.

bull

Weakened financial condition, compounded by weak economy in the market it operates. Shallow, ineffective management which has made poor choices in the past and shows no possibility of renewal.

Popular, like almost every other bank has been caught up in this financial meltdown. It has taken its licks and is still standing, and importantly, will most likely still be standing in the future. I cannot predict when banking will return to economic favor but I am confident that BPOP's banking and lending services will be in demand and their share price will significantly appreciate from these prices. Long term outperform!

BPOP is a well run bank...they bit off a bit more than they could handle with acquiring Equity One, Inc. & E-Loan here in the states which subsequently handed them hefty losses. However, I do believe in the management and it has a nice DRIP program.

past performance, client base, management.

Banco Popular has a dominant presence in the Puerto Rico financial market. That is one one of its strengths and also, its weakness. BPOP stands to benefit ffrom the economic recovery of the island.

Expect large losses next year.

Largest Bank in Puerto Rico

Capitalization is good

Discarding continental USA expansion branches

Will turn a profit in 6 yo 9 mos

BPOP is a great example of a bank which started slim and expanded in the years. At this price level, it will outperform it's peers in the coming years.

I am going to bet that Banco Popular was more conservative than average with the subprime and also they have good healthy demographics with the growing Hispanic population, plus a lot of non-hispanic businesses are finding them great to deal with.

A diversified, publicly owned bank holding company operates four principal businesses or operating segments: Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Banco Popular North America, Popular Financial Holdings and EVERTEC.

Once oli stabilizes... in roughly six months or less, the financials will see a recovery-- but it will still take time for this stock to ramp up. This company is key to banking in Puerto Rico (it is the #1 bank) so it can only go up.

In anticipation of the eventual rebound of the financial sector. A little early for bottom feeding, but I am just indiscriminately putting all stocks that are tagged Bank.

While this company, latin american based, is a strong one and is expanding itself to the US and other parts of the world, it very soon to say that they are very strong and competitive in the US market. Right now, I don't think they can experience strong increases but maybe in the future, in a few years. Its not a risky investment, but don't expect it to grow very soon or fast since it is establishing itself right now in the US slowly.