Popular Debt

BPOPO Stock  USD 24.02  0.58  2.36%   
Popular's financial leverage is the degree to which the firm utilizes its fixed-income securities and uses equity to finance projects. Companies with high leverage are usually considered to be at financial risk. Popular's financial risk is the risk to Popular stockholders that is caused by an increase in debt. In other words, with a high degree of financial leverage come high-interest payments, which usually reduce Earnings Per Share (EPS).
Given that Popular's debt-to-equity ratio measures a Company's obligations relative to the value of its net assets, it is usually used by traders to estimate the extent to which Popular is acquiring new debt as a mechanism of leveraging its assets. A high debt-to-equity ratio is generally associated with increased risk, implying that it has been aggressive in financing its growth with debt. Another way to look at debt-to-equity ratios is to compare the overall debt load of Popular to its assets or equity, showing how much of the company assets belong to shareholders vs. creditors. If shareholders own more assets, Popular is said to be less leveraged. If creditors hold a majority of Popular's assets, the Company is said to be highly leveraged.
  
Check out the analysis of Popular Fundamentals Over Time.
To learn how to invest in Popular Pink Sheet, please use our How to Invest in Popular guide.

Popular Debt to Cash Allocation

Popular has accumulated 886.71 M in total debt. Debt can assist Popular until it has trouble settling it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. So, Popular's shareholders could walk away with nothing if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt. However, a more frequent occurrence is when companies like Popular sell additional shares at bargain prices, diluting existing shareholders. Debt, in this case, can be an excellent and much better tool for Popular to invest in growth at high rates of return. When we think about Popular's use of debt, we should always consider it together with cash and equity.

Popular Assets Financed by Debt

Typically, companies with high debt-to-asset ratios are said to be highly leveraged. The higher the ratio, the greater risk will be associated with the Popular's operation. In addition, a high debt-to-assets ratio may indicate a low borrowing capacity of Popular, which in turn will lower the firm's financial flexibility.

Popular Corporate Bonds Issued

Understaning Popular Use of Financial Leverage

Leverage ratios show Popular's total debt position, including all outstanding obligations. In simple terms, high financial leverage means that the cost of production, along with the day-to-day running of the business, is high. Conversely, lower financial leverage implies lower fixed cost investment in the business, which is generally considered a good sign by investors. The degree of Popular's financial leverage can be measured in several ways, including ratios such as the debt-to-equity ratio (total debt / total equity), or the debt ratio (total debt / total assets).
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. Popular, Inc. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. Popular operates under BanksRegional classification in the United States and is traded on OTC Exchange. It employs 8351 people.
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Pair Trading with Popular

One of the main advantages of trading using pair correlations is that every trade hedges away some risk. Because there are two separate transactions required, even if Popular position performs unexpectedly, the other equity can make up some of the losses. Pair trading also minimizes risk from directional movements in the market. For example, if an entire industry or sector drops because of unexpected headlines, the short position in Popular will appreciate offsetting losses from the drop in the long position's value.

Moving against Popular Pink Sheet

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The ability to find closely correlated positions to Popular could be a great tool in your tax-loss harvesting strategies, allowing investors a quick way to find a similar-enough asset to replace Popular when you sell it. If you don't do this, your portfolio allocation will be skewed against your target asset allocation. So, investors can't just sell and buy back Popular - that would be a violation of the tax code under the "wash sale" rule, and this is why you need to find a similar enough asset and use the proceeds from selling Popular to buy it.
The correlation of Popular is a statistical measure of how it moves in relation to other instruments. This measure is expressed in what is known as the correlation coefficient, which ranges between -1 and +1. A perfect positive correlation (i.e., a correlation coefficient of +1) implies that as Popular moves, either up or down, the other security will move in the same direction. Alternatively, perfect negative correlation means that if Popular moves in either direction, the perfectly negatively correlated security will move in the opposite direction. If the correlation is 0, the equities are not correlated; they are entirely random. A correlation greater than 0.8 is generally described as strong, whereas a correlation less than 0.5 is generally considered weak.
Correlation analysis and pair trading evaluation for Popular can also be used as hedging techniques within a particular sector or industry or even over random equities to generate a better risk-adjusted return on your portfolios.
Pair CorrelationCorrelation Matching

Additional Information and Resources on Investing in Popular Pink Sheet

When determining whether Popular is a good investment, qualitative aspects like company management, corporate governance, and ethical practices play a significant role. A comparison with peer companies also provides context and helps to understand if Popular Pink Sheet is undervalued or overvalued. This multi-faceted approach, blending both quantitative and qualitative analysis, forms a solid foundation for making an informed investment decision about Popular Stock. Highlighted below are key reports to facilitate an investment decision about Popular Stock:
Check out the analysis of Popular Fundamentals Over Time.
To learn how to invest in Popular Pink Sheet, please use our How to Invest in Popular guide.
You can also try the Portfolio Manager module to state of the art Portfolio Manager to monitor and improve performance of your invested capital.
Please note, there is a significant difference between Popular's value and its price as these two are different measures arrived at by different means. Investors typically determine if Popular is a good investment by looking at such factors as earnings, sales, fundamental and technical indicators, competition as well as analyst projections. However, Popular's price is the amount at which it trades on the open market and represents the number that a seller and buyer find agreeable to each party.

What is Financial Leverage?

Financial leverage is the use of borrowed money (debt) to finance the purchase of assets with the expectation that the income or capital gain from the new asset will exceed the cost of borrowing. In most cases, the debt provider will limit how much risk it is ready to take and indicate a limit on the extent of the leverage it will allow. In the case of asset-backed lending, the financial provider uses the assets as collateral until the borrower repays the loan. In the case of a cash flow loan, the general creditworthiness of the company is used to back the loan. The concept of leverage is common in the business world. It is mostly used to boost the returns on equity capital of a company, especially when the business is unable to increase its operating efficiency and returns on total investment. Because earnings on borrowing are higher than the interest payable on debt, the company's total earnings will increase, ultimately boosting stockholders' profits.

Leverage and Capital Costs

The debt to equity ratio plays a role in the working average cost of capital (WACC). The overall interest on debt represents the break-even point that must be obtained to profitability in a given venture. Thus, WACC is essentially the average interest an organization owes on the capital it has borrowed for leverage. Let's say equity represents 60% of borrowed capital, and debt is 40%. This results in a financial leverage calculation of 40/60, or 0.6667. The organization owes 10% on all equity and 5% on all debt. That means that the weighted average cost of capital is (.4)(5) + (.6)(10) - or 8%. For every $10,000 borrowed, this organization will owe $800 in interest. Profit must be higher than 8% on the project to offset the cost of interest and justify this leverage.

Benefits of Financial Leverage

Leverage provides the following benefits for companies:
  • Leverage is an essential tool a company's management can use to make the best financing and investment decisions.
  • It provides a variety of financing sources by which the firm can achieve its target earnings.
  • Leverage is also an essential technique in investing as it helps companies set a threshold for the expansion of business operations. For example, it can be used to recommend restrictions on business expansion once the projected return on additional investment is lower than the cost of debt.
By borrowing funds, the firm incurs a debt that must be paid. But, this debt is paid in small installments over a relatively long period of time. This frees funds for more immediate use in the stock market. For example, suppose a company can afford a new factory but will be left with negligible free cash. In that case, it may be better to finance the factory and spend the cash on hand on inputs, labor, or even hold a significant portion as a reserve against unforeseen circumstances.

The Risk of Financial Leverage

The most obvious and apparent risk of leverage is that if price changes unexpectedly, the leveraged position can lead to severe losses. For example, imagine a hedge fund seeded by $50 worth of investor money. The hedge fund borrows another $50 and buys an asset worth $100, leading to a leverage ratio of 2:1. For the investor, this is neither good nor bad -- until the asset price changes. If the asset price goes up 10 percent, the investor earns $10 on $50 of capital, a net gain of 20 percent, and is very pleased with the increased gains from the leverage. However, if the asset price crashes unexpectedly, say by 30 percent, the investor loses $30 on $50 of capital, suffering a 60 percent loss. In other words, the effect of leverage is to increase the volatility of returns and increase the effects of a price change on the asset to the bottom line while increasing the chance for profit as well.