Short Interest in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Expands By 19.3%

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 871,600 shares, a growth of 19.3% from the September 15th total of 730,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 420,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP traded up $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.71. The stock had a trading volume of 150,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,423. Popular has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $105.01. The stock has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $98.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.58.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $751.57 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Popular will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 36.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total transaction of $577,499.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,387.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Popular by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,240,000 after purchasing an additional 216,855 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at $289,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 164.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 5.4% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 114,237 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,960,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 6.7% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BPOP shares. Barclays upped their target price on Popular from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Hovde Group upped their target price on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler started 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Popular from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $115.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

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.