Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Down 48.4% in July

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 329,900 shares, a drop of 48.4% from the July 15th total of 638,900 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 344,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.22.

Popular Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Popular stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 170,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,773. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.79. Popular has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $105.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.16.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. Popular had a net margin of 12.20% and a return on equity of 12.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $751.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Popular will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were 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 owns 48,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,145,856. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Popular

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,563,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Popular by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 139,694 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,465,000 after acquiring an additional 15,710 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 3.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 294,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,924,000 after buying an additional 10,308 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Popular by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 282,639 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $809,000. 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.