Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Short Interest Up 33.7% in February

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 733,300 shares, an increase of 33.7% from the February 13th total of 548,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Banco Santander-Chile Price Performance

BSAC traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 355,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,032. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.16. Banco Santander-Chile has a twelve month low of $17.73 and a twelve month high of $23.12.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.05). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 19.16%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America cut shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Banco Santander-Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at $461,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 233,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,847,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the 3rd quarter worth $700,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 296,922 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,164,000 after acquiring an additional 131,637 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander-Chile Company Profile

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.