Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (NYSE:BLX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (NYSE:BLX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 293,900 shares, an increase of 30.5% from the March 31st total of 225,200 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 129,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,859 shares of the bank's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 4,087.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 26,462 shares of the bank's stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 25,830 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 14,497 shares of the bank's stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,603,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 124,864 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,441,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.47% of the company's stock.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. Stock Performance

BLX traded up $0.20 on Tuesday, hitting $39.60. 55,042 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 126,003. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.44. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. has a 52 week low of $27.37 and a 52 week high of $42.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (NYSE:BLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The bank reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 24.29%. The firm had revenue of $77.95 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A.'s dividend payout ratio is 44.64%.

About Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A., a multinational bank, primarily engages in the financing of foreign trade in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Treasury. It offers bilateral loans; structured loans including syndicated and clubbed, such as acquisition and pre-export financing, A/B loan financing, bridge loans, and liability management; and project financing.