Short Interest in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Declines By 12.0%

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 730,800 shares, a decline of 12.0% from the August 31st total of 830,800 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 408,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total transaction of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,387.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Popular by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,859,000 after buying an additional 366,870 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Popular by 395.0% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 429,197 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,224,000 after acquiring an additional 342,492 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 52.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,867,000 after purchasing an additional 286,450 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Popular in the first quarter worth approximately $19,997,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Popular by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,240,000 after purchasing an additional 216,855 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BPOP shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Popular from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Monday, August 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.22.

Popular Stock Down 1.0 %

Popular stock traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.58. The stock had a trading volume of 361,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,056. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.78. Popular has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $105.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $98.84 and a 200 day moving average of $91.42.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.38. Popular had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $751.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Popular will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. 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.