Short Interest in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Declines By 14.1%

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 834,600 shares, a decline of 14.1% from the January 15th total of 972,100 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 500,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 12,494 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Popular by 284.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,260,000 after purchasing an additional 53,590 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Popular by 83.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Popular by 279.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 38,798 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 28,574 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Popular Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $104.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82. Popular has a 12 month low of $80.60 and a 12 month high of $106.46. The business’s 50-day moving average is $98.03 and its 200 day moving average is $97.55.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.