Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Short Interest Down 27.5% in February

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 267,900 shares, a decrease of 27.5% from the February 13th total of 369,600 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 242,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Banco de Chile Stock Performance

Banco de Chile stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.87. 330,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 215,450. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.40. The firm has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.39. Banco de Chile has a fifty-two week low of $20.93 and a fifty-two week high of $29.54.

Banco de Chile Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $2.1037 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Banco de Chile's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 169.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 29,891 shares of the bank's stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 18,800 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,316,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 56,710 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,494,000. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BCH shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Banco de Chile from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Banco de Chile from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

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.