Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 903,292 shares, a growth of 74.2% from the April 15th total of 518,614 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 559,725 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Banco De Chile by 33,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Banco De Chile by 161.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Banco De Chile in the first quarter worth about $53,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Banco De Chile by 286.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Banco De Chile by 2,425.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,401 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCH has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Banco De Chile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Banco De Chile from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on shares of Banco De Chile and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco De Chile has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Banco De Chile Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE BCH opened at $36.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.86 and a 200 day moving average of $39.07. Banco De Chile has a 1 year low of $27.08 and a 1 year high of $46.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $321.27 million during the quarter. Banco De Chile had a net margin of 29.95% and a return on equity of 19.47%. Research analysts forecast that Banco De Chile will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco De Chile Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were given a $2.1877 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Banco De Chile’s dividend payout ratio is 68.18%.

About Banco De Chile

Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) is a leading Chilean financial institution headquartered in Santiago. Founded in 1893, the bank is one of the country’s oldest and most established banking groups, serving a broad spectrum of individual, corporate and institutional clients. It is publicly listed and operates under Chilean banking regulations while participating in international capital markets.

The bank’s core businesses include retail banking, commercial and corporate banking, and investment banking.