Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Update

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 990,200 shares, an increase of 13.6% from the September 30th total of 871,600 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 453,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group upped their price target on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In related news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total value of $577,499.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,387.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Popular by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 294,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,924,000 after acquiring an additional 10,308 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 2.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 282,639 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,067 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Popular by 249.1% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 32,845 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,904,000 after purchasing an additional 23,436 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,317 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Popular by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 708,385 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,402,000 after purchasing an additional 9,985 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Popular Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $89.23. 430,846 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 416,003. The stock has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.24. Popular has a 12-month low of $64.35 and a 12-month high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Popular will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.80%.

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.