Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the December 15th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 529,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.25.

Popular Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $99.64 on Monday. Popular has a twelve month low of $79.50 and a twelve month high of $105.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. Popular’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Popular will post 8.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the bank’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Popular by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,227,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Popular by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 104,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Popular by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 20,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Popular by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.