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

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 990,200 shares, an increase of 13.6% from the September 30th total of 871,600 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 453,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Barclays cut their price target on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.88.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ:BPOP traded up $1.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 141,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,802. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.26. Popular has a twelve month low of $64.35 and a twelve month high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Popular will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 36.80%.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares in the company, valued at $2,920,387.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Popular by 3.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 294,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,924,000 after acquiring an additional 10,308 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Popular by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 282,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,067 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Popular by 249.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 32,845 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,904,000 after purchasing an additional 23,436 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 10.4% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Popular by 1.4% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 708,385 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,402,000 after buying an additional 9,985 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.