Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Short Interest Up 39.3% in March

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 688,438 shares, an increase of 39.3% from the March 15th total of 494,338 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 473,961 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile during the third quarter worth $597,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 200.9% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 832,647 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,065,000 after purchasing an additional 555,919 shares during the period. INCA Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 36.4% during the third quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 715,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,953,000 after purchasing an additional 191,014 shares during the period. TT International Asset Management LTD acquired a new position in Banco Santander Chile in the third quarter valued at $24,685,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Banco Santander Chile in the fourth quarter valued at $3,369,000. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Chile Stock Performance

Shares of BSAC traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.56. 734,172 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 408,177. Banco Santander Chile has a 52 week low of $22.77 and a 52 week high of $37.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.59. The firm has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $787.51 million for the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 24.57% and a return on equity of 21.51%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BSAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 target price on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander Chile presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

About Banco Santander Chile

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) is one of the leading financial institutions in Chile and a key component of the global Santander Group. The bank offers a comprehensive range of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial lending, deposit accounts, credit cards, wealth management, insurance products and corporate banking solutions. Headquartered in Santiago, it operates an extensive network of branches, ATMs and digital platforms to serve individual customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations across the country.

Originally founded as Banco de Santiago in the late 1970s, the institution became part of the Santander Group following the privatization wave in Chile during the late 1980s.