Short Interest in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Declines By 48.4%

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 329,900 shares, a decline of 48.4% from the July 15th total of 638,900 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 344,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 170,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,773. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.16. Popular has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $105.01. The company has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.79.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $751.57 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 12.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Popular will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $429,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,320 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,856. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Popular during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.22.

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.