Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Up 7.4% in January

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the December 31st total of 1,080,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 529,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,490,403.40. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of Popular 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. The trade was 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 valued at $1,565,581 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 15.2% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,507,000 after buying an additional 12,494 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 7.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,769,000 after acquiring an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Popular by 284.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,260,000 after acquiring an additional 53,590 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Popular by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 279.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 38,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 28,574 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of Popular stock traded down $3.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $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 one year low of $80.60 and a one year high of $106.46. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $97.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.44.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Popular’s payout ratio is 32.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. 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 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

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.