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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander-Chile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 601.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,810 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,089 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Banco Santander-Chile in the third quarter valued at $212,000. 6.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander-Chile Price Performance

Shares of BSAC traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 279,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,602. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share (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%. Analysts predict that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.