Short Interest in Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Increases By 49.2%

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 789,600 shares, an increase of 49.2% from the May 31st total of 529,100 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 284,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on BSAC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.48.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander-Chile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BSAC. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,829 shares of the bank’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,632 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS purchased a new position in Banco Santander-Chile during the fourth quarter worth about $2,669,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in Banco Santander-Chile in the 4th quarter valued at about $181,000. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 78,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,532,000 after buying an additional 7,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 249,224 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,857,000 after buying an additional 25,393 shares during the last quarter. 6.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

Shares of BSAC traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,380. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.13. Banco Santander-Chile has a fifty-two week low of $16.89 and a fifty-two week high of $21.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.04). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $524.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.26 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.85 EPS for the current 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.