Short Interest in Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Increases By 33.7%

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 733,300 shares, an increase of 33.7% from the February 13th total of 548,400 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Bank of America cut Banco Santander-Chile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 14,282 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 115,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 44,900 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 145,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 42,302 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 90.3% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 82,700 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after buying an additional 39,241 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new position in Banco Santander-Chile in the fourth quarter worth approximately $369,000. Institutional investors own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

NYSE:BSAC traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $22.99. The stock had a trading volume of 355,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,032. Banco Santander-Chile has a 52-week low of $17.73 and a 52-week high of $23.12. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.16.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.05). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 19.16%. As a group, research analysts predict that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share 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.