Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 267,900 shares, a drop of 27.5% from the February 13th total of 369,600 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 242,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BCH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Banco de Chile from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Banco de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco de Chile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 379,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,616,000 after acquiring an additional 28,959 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 858,889 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,738,000 after acquiring an additional 15,312 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 18,631.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 21,612 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $638,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,411,000. 1.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco de Chile Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE BCH traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.72. 183,642 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 214,675. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $25.25 and its 200-day moving average is $24.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.39. Banco de Chile has a twelve month low of $20.93 and a twelve month high of $27.81.

Banco de Chile Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $2.1037 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. Banco de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.78%.

Banco de Chile Company Profile

Banco de Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking services to customers in Chile. The company offers checking and debit accounts, debit and credit cards, and lines of credit; mortgage, consume, commercial, general purpose mortgage loans, and finance leases; and factoring services, mutual fund management, stock brokerage, foreign trade, payments and collections, insurance brokerage, including life and general insurance, as well as time deposits, savings instruments, and foreign currency services through branches under the Banco de Chile and Banco Edwards brands.