Banco Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) traded today at a new 52-week high of $28.75. Approximately 219,000 shares have changed hands today, as compared to an average 30-day volume of 1.1 million shares.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Banco Popular have traded between a low of $13.38 and a high of $28.75 and are now at $28.73, which is 115% above that low price. The 200-day and 50-day moving averages have moved 0.82% higher and 2.45% higher over the past week, respectively.

Banco Popular has overhead space with shares priced $28.73, or 2.9% below the average consensus analyst price target of $29.60. The stock should discover initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $22.60 and subsequent support at its 200-day MA of $18.21.

Popular, Inc. is a bank holding company that provides commercial banking services through branches in Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, and the United States mainland. The Company also provides mortgage and consumer finance, lease financing, investment banking and broker/dealer activities, retail financial services, and automated tellers.

SmarTrend recommended that subscribers consider buying shares of Banco Popular on September 6th, 2012 as our proprietary SmarTrend analytics indicated a new Uptrend was in progress when shares hit $16.48. Since that recommendation, shares of Banco Popular have risen 73.0%. We continue to monitor BPOP for any potential shift so investors can protect gains and will alert SmarTrend subscribers immediately.