Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 972,100 shares, a decrease of 16.2% from the December 31st total of 1,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 545,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,325 shares of company stock worth $1,565,581 in the last quarter. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Popular by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 19,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Popular by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 92,877 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,736,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Popular in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Popular Stock Performance

NASDAQ BPOP traded down $3.03 on Monday, reaching $99.91. The company had a trading volume of 454,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,801. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $97.36 and its 200-day moving average is $97.44. Popular has a 1-year low of $80.60 and a 1-year high of $106.46.

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

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 32.71%.

About Popular

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.