Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Short Interest Down 28.7% in September

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 553,400 shares, a decline of 28.7% from the August 31st total of 776,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 267,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Banco Santander-Chile Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BSAC traded down $0.21 on Friday, reaching $21.04. 247,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 282,570. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.17 and a 200-day moving average of $19.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.86. Banco Santander-Chile has a 1-year low of $16.89 and a 1-year high of $21.43.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.01). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 11.84%. The company had revenue of $599.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $693.44 million. Equities analysts forecast that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 327,191 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,488,000 after acquiring an additional 25,237 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 166,763 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 43,949 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 402,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,584,000 after buying an additional 24,697 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 900.5% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 165,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,107,000 after buying an additional 148,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 60.5% during the 2nd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 796,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,999,000 after buying an additional 300,257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BSAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Berenberg Bank raised Banco Santander-Chile to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.48.

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.