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

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 862,500 shares, a growth of 58.7% from the May 31st total of 543,600 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 316,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total value of $429,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,320 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,856. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Manuel Chinea sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total transaction of $1,088,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,456,700.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total value of $429,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,320 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,856. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners boosted its position in Popular by 262.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 103,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,097,000 after acquiring an additional 74,818 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,104,000. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 5,519 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter valued at about $669,000. Finally, Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 191.7% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 88,857 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,827,000 after buying an additional 58,397 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP traded up $2.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.43. The company had a trading volume of 693,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,105. Popular has a 12-month low of $59.15 and a 12-month high of $93.09. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.93.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by ($0.09). Popular had a return on equity of 11.67% and a net margin of 11.95%. The business had revenue of $714.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 36.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Popular from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.67.

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.