Short Interest in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Rises By 32.2%

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 436,100 shares, a growth of 32.2% from the July 31st total of 329,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 357,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total value of $429,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,145,856. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 48,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,145,856. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total value of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,387.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter worth $83,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 16.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BPOP. Hovde Group increased their target price on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Popular in a research report on Monday, August 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Popular from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Popular Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $102.50 on Friday. Popular has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $105.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.38.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $751.57 million. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 12.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Popular will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Popular’s payout ratio is 36.80%.

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.