Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 529,700 shares, a decrease of 27.8% from the February 28th total of 733,300 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 266,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 14,282 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 115,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 44,900 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 145,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 42,302 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 90.3% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 82,700 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after buying an additional 39,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile in the fourth quarter valued at $369,000. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Bank of America lowered shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.33.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Up 2.8 %

Banco Santander-Chile stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.44. The stock had a trading volume of 341,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,731. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. Banco Santander-Chile has a 1-year low of $17.73 and a 1-year high of $23.80.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.05). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 19.16%. As a group, analysts expect that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Banco Santander-Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services.