Short Interest in Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Expands By 17.1%

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 529,100 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the May 15th total of 451,700 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 294,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander-Chile has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.48.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BSAC. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,957 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 115.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 2.4% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 50,862 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,618 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

Shares of Banco Santander-Chile stock opened at $18.51 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.17. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.21. Banco Santander-Chile has a 1 year low of $16.89 and a 1 year high of $21.81.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $524.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $544.26 million. Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 9.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

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.