Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 342,900 shares, a drop of 38.0% from the September 15th total of 553,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 254,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BSAC. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Banco Santander-Chile to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.48.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 900.5% in the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 165,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,107,000 after buying an additional 148,764 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $248,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 0.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 328,744 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 30.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 4,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 5.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,030 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,900,000 after purchasing an additional 8,138 shares in the last quarter. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

BSAC stock opened at $20.06 on Friday. Banco Santander-Chile has a 1-year low of $16.89 and a 1-year high of $21.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The firm has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.59.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.01). Banco Santander-Chile had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $599.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $693.44 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander-Chile Company Profile

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.