Short Interest in Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Rises By 41.9%

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 329,200 shares, a growth of 41.9% from the August 31st total of 232,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 168,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 569.6% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 163.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 629.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,564 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Banco de Chile during the second quarter worth $294,000. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco de Chile in the first quarter valued at $312,000. 1.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco de Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Banco de Chile Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BCH stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.52. 147,308 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 195,986. Banco de Chile has a 12 month low of $19.20 and a 12 month high of $25.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.57. The stock has a market cap of $12.89 billion, a PE ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.40.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.04. Banco de Chile had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 28.99%. The business had revenue of $810.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.15 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco de Chile will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

About Banco de Chile

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.