Banco Macro S.A. (NYSE:BMA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Banco Macro S.A. (NYSE:BMA) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the July 15th total of 884,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 332,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Banco Macro from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut Banco Macro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th.

Banco Macro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMA traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.59. The stock had a trading volume of 305,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,121. Banco Macro has a twelve month low of $17.30 and a twelve month high of $68.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $55.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.79. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.91.

Banco Macro (NYSE:BMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The bank reported $5.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $2.83. Banco Macro had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Banco Macro will post 11.83 EPS for the current year.

Banco Macro Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.798 per share. This is a boost from Banco Macro’s previous monthly dividend of $1.74. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $21.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 38.13%. Banco Macro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 127.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Macro

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Macro in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Banco Macro in the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Shilanski & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Banco Macro during the second quarter worth about $244,000. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Macro during the first quarter worth approximately $260,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Macro during the first quarter worth approximately $261,000.

Banco Macro Company Profile

Banco Macro SA provides various banking products and services to retail and corporate customers in Argentina. It offers various retail banking products and services, such as savings and checking accounts, time deposits, credit and debit cards, consumer finance loans, mortgage loans, automobile loans, overdrafts, credit-related services, home and car insurance coverage, tax collection, utility payments, automated teller machines (ATMs), and money transfers.