Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Down 9.1% in November
Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, a decrease of 9.1% from the October 31st total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 375,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Popular Stock Up 3.8 %
BPOP stock traded up $2.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 327,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,260. Popular has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $76.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.12.
Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. Popular had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 18.83%. The business had revenue of $693.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Popular will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Popular Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 7th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.49%.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.58, for a total transaction of $555,747.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,130,435.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Popular by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,599,881 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $226,829,000 after acquiring an additional 642,694 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 726,743 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,792,000 after acquiring an additional 286,119 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,451,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,998,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently commented on BPOP. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $86.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Popular from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.14.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Popular
About Popular (Get Free Report)
Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and 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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Original: MarketBeat News Feed: Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Short Interest Down 9.1% in November