Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on XP (NASDAQ:XP)

XP Inc. (NASDAQ:XP) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 23,426 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 377% compared to the typical volume of 4,909 call options.

XP Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of XP stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.12. 2,339,346 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,236,317. XP has a 1 year low of $14.80 and a 1 year high of $23.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.53. The company has a current ratio of 6.66, a quick ratio of 6.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.11.

XP declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 19th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

XP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from XP’s previous annual dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 268.0%. XP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XP. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of XP by 692.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 217,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after buying an additional 190,115 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of XP by 174.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of XP by 65.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of XP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $857,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of XP by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 723,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,613,000 after buying an additional 48,765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on XP from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded XP from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded XP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, XP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.75.

XP Company Profile

XP Inc provides financial products and services in Brazil. It offers securities brokerage, private pension plans, commercial, and investment banking products, such as loan operations and transactions in the foreign exchange markets and deposits; product structuring and capital markets services for corporate clients and issuers of fixed income products; advisory services for mass-affluent and institutional clients; and wealth management services for high-net-worth customers and institutional clients.