Short Interest in Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Rises By 15.0%

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 394,400 shares, an increase of 15.0% from the September 30th total of 342,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 268,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,569 shares of the bank’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the second quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Banco Santander-Chile during the second quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 32.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 13,021 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new stake in Banco Santander-Chile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $285,000. 6.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander-Chile Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BSAC stock traded up $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $19.73. 45,245 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 288,040. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.62. Banco Santander-Chile has a one year low of $16.89 and a one year high of $21.43.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 11.84%. The business had revenue of $599.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $693.44 million. Equities analysts forecast that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BSAC. Berenberg Bank upgraded Banco Santander-Chile to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander-Chile has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

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.