Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,570,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the May 15th total of 1,230,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 677,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total value of $728,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,851,561.48. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total transaction of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,604 shares in the company, valued at $376,365.72. This represents a 12.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Popular during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Popular by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank's stock valued at $133,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,798 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Popular by 52.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,432,599 shares of the bank's stock valued at $129,722,000 after purchasing an additional 495,325 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,312,952 shares of the bank's stock valued at $123,496,000 after purchasing an additional 459,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Popular by 5.0% during 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 buying an additional 201,067 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $103.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $98.69 and a 200 day moving average of $96.92. Popular has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $107.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 15.82%. The business had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Popular will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. Popular's payout ratio is 28.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BPOP shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $125.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $114.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.14.

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.

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