Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Update

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the December 31st total of 1,080,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 529,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 235.5% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 332,093 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,299,000 after purchasing an additional 233,119 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Popular by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 697,389 shares of the bank's stock valued at $65,596,000 after acquiring an additional 93,262 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the third quarter worth about $9,115,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Popular by 18.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 548,057 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,954,000 after purchasing an additional 84,839 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,385,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.25.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $103.37. 335,404 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 460,127. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.54. Popular has a 12 month low of $80.60 and a 12 month high of $106.46. The company has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.82.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts expect that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Popular's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Popular's dividend payout ratio is 32.71%.

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.