Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Down 27.3% in February

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,176,727 shares, a decrease of 27.3% from the February 12th total of 1,619,077 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 500,721 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 500,721 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total value of $312,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $481,002.75. This represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 74,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,331,000 after acquiring an additional 18,721 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $274,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 88.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 149,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,577,000 after acquiring an additional 70,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Popular by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 439,752 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,282,000 after purchasing an additional 147,197 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $130.38 on Monday. Popular has a 52 week low of $78.23 and a 52 week high of $149.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $134.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.50. The firm has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The company had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Popular in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.55.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.