Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Down 18.0% in May

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the target of a large drop in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,230,000 shares, a drop of 18.0% from the April 30th total of 1,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 666,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Hovde Group dropped their price target on shares of Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total value of $52,215.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,365.72. This trade represents a 12.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,286,832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $873,519,000 after purchasing an additional 56,222 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Popular by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank’s stock worth $394,373,000 after acquiring an additional 201,067 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Popular by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,569,149 shares of the bank’s stock worth $329,674,000 after acquiring an additional 34,322 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Popular by 1.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,940,484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $179,243,000 after acquiring an additional 32,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Popular by 4.7% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,485,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $137,182,000 after acquiring an additional 66,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BPOP opened at $104.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.42. Popular has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $106.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

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.