Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Short Interest Up 33.7% in February

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 733,300 shares, an increase of 33.7% from the February 13th total of 548,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Banco Santander-Chile Trading Up 2.0 %

BSAC traded up $0.46 during trading on Monday, reaching $23.45. 335,143 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 268,300. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. Banco Santander-Chile has a fifty-two week low of $17.73 and a fifty-two week high of $23.54. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 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, equities analysts forecast that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander-Chile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BSAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,988,659 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,226,000 after acquiring an additional 61,242 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,164,490 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,859,000 after purchasing an additional 33,291 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 659,627 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,441,000 after purchasing an additional 116,200 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 629,275 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,868,000 after purchasing an additional 55,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 492,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,295,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the period. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Banco Santander-Chile

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.