Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 704,000 shares, a drop of 28.9% from the October 15th total of 990,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 486,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total transaction of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,387.20. The trade was a 16.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,242 shares of company stock worth $1,102,880 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,360 shares of the bank’s stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,040 shares of the bank’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 294,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth $19,997,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Popular Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of BPOP traded down $0.16 on Friday, hitting $96.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 399,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,618. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.99. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $71.08 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.79.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 12.36%. The firm had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.62 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Popular will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.70%.

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.