Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 733,300 shares, a growth of 33.7% from the February 13th total of 548,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander-Chile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the bank's stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,089 shares of the bank's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 492,868 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 601.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,810 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,415 shares of the bank's stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.42% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America downgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.33.

Banco Santander-Chile Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BSAC traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.90. The stock had a trading volume of 247,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,091. The company has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. Banco Santander-Chile has a 12-month low of $17.73 and a 12-month high of $23.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.24 and a 200-day moving average of $20.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.05). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 19.16%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal 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.