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

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 776,300 shares, a growth of 8.8% from the August 15th total of 713,700 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 270,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,618 shares of the bank’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,957 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 115.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the fourth quarter worth approximately $585,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 88.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,788 shares of the bank’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 6,017 shares in the last quarter. 6.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of BSAC stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.23. 164,948 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 281,010. Banco Santander-Chile has a 52-week low of $16.89 and a 52-week high of $21.19. The stock has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.51.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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