Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Down 28.9% in October

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 704,000 shares, a drop of 28.9% from the October 15th total of 990,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 486,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total value 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 approximately $2,920,387.20. This trade represents a 16.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,569.72. The trade was a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,242 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,880 in the last 90 days. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Popular by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,475,000 after acquiring an additional 10,599 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Popular by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,781,000 after buying an additional 113,838 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,537,000 after purchasing an additional 67,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Popular by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,129,000 after acquiring an additional 164,270 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on BPOP. Barclays dropped their target price on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.88.

Popular Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $96.09. The company had a trading volume of 399,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,618. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.99. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.79. Popular has a 1 year low of $71.08 and a 1 year high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The firm had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Popular’s payout ratio is 33.70%.

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.