Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Short Interest Up 66.0% in February

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 894,881 shares, a growth of 66.0% from the January 29th total of 539,088 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 262,309 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 262,309 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander Chile

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BSAC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,551 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 6,745 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Banco Santander Chile during the 4th quarter valued at $292,000. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 32,634 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2,007 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Banco Santander Chile by 221.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 271,827 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,457,000 after acquiring an additional 187,151 shares during the period. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Trust Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander Chile in the fourth quarter worth $531,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Chile Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BSAC traded down $0.91 during trading on Monday, hitting $33.00. 431,344 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 338,561. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $34.24 and its 200-day moving average is $29.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.58. Banco Santander Chile has a one year low of $20.77 and a one year high of $37.72.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $740.07 million during the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a return on equity of 23.25% and a net margin of 24.57%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Banco Santander Chile from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Santander Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $27.67.

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.