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

Banco Macro S.A. (NYSE:BMA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 719,700 shares, a drop of 16.6% from the September 15th total of 863,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 280,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Macro

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in Banco Macro in the second quarter valued at about $43,236,000. Duquesne Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banco Macro by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 273,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,659,000 after acquiring an additional 64,400 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Banco Macro by 72.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 165,558 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,491,000 after purchasing an additional 69,494 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Banco Macro by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 64,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,084,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Macro during the first quarter valued at about $348,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BMA. Bank of America upgraded shares of Banco Macro from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Banco Macro from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Banco Macro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th.

Banco Macro Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE BMA traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $74.18. 139,805 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,685. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.85 and a 200 day moving average of $58.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.80. Banco Macro has a 1 year low of $17.30 and a 1 year high of $76.63.

Banco Macro (NYSE:BMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The bank reported ($4.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($5.50). Banco Macro had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Banco Macro will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Macro Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.798 per share. This represents a $21.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 29.09%. This is an increase from Banco Macro’s previous monthly dividend of $1.74. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Banco Macro’s dividend payout ratio is 127.41%.

About Banco Macro

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, and money transfers.