Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Up 38.8% in March

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, an increase of 38.8% from the February 28th total of 1,030,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 562,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Popular Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $92.37 on Tuesday. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $80.60 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.92. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. On average, research analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Popular by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,446,000 after buying an additional 515,798 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Popular by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,312,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,496,000 after buying an additional 459,231 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Popular by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $394,373,000 after buying an additional 201,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Popular by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 723,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,041,000 after acquiring an additional 175,327 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

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.