Short Interest in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Drops By 16.2%

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 972,100 shares, a decrease of 16.2% from the December 31st total of 1,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 545,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Popular Price Performance

Popular stock traded down $3.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $99.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 454,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,801. Popular has a 52-week low of $80.60 and a 52-week high of $106.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.36 and its 200 day moving average is $97.44. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. As a group, analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,325 shares of company stock worth $1,565,581 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Popular in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

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.