Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Up 38.8% in March

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, an increase of 38.8% from the February 28th total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 562,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BPOP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 increased their price target 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 lowered shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $91.52 on Monday. Popular has a fifty-two week low of $80.60 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.95.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share 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 expect that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,040,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 4,354 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth about $2,337,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at about $506,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Popular by 303.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 17,819 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Popular by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,839 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.