Short Interest in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Expands By 27.7%

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, a growth of 27.7% from the February 13th total of 806,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 504,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.00.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $90.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $98.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.41. Popular has a 1 year low of $80.60 and a 1 year high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s payout ratio is 32.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Popular

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 4.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 19.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter valued at about $213,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 284.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,260,000 after acquiring an additional 53,590 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.