Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest plunged 43.2% in March to 224,165 shares (about 0.6% of the company), leaving a short-interest ratio of just 1.3 days based on average trading volume.
• Analyst sentiment upgraded: Weiss Ratings raised BLX to a "buy (a-)" and MarketBeat shows a consensus "Strong Buy," with analysts forecasting roughly 4.6 EPS for the year.
• Dividend hike and solid fundamentals: The firm raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6875 ($2.75 annual, ~5.0% yield), recently reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, and trades at a P/E of about 9.01 with a market cap near $2.05 billion.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 224,165 shares, a decline of 43.2% from the March 15th total of 394,969 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 175,188 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Stock Performance

NYSE:BLX traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $55.04. The company had a trading volume of 73,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 147,189. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior has a 52 week low of $36.33 and a 52 week high of $55.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $50.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.72.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The bank reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $88.80 million during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.6875 per share. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior's payout ratio is presently 45.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,746 shares of the bank's stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,988 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 122,864 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,163,826 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,907,000 after acquiring an additional 15,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.47% of the company's stock.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Company Profile

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior SA, commonly known as BLADEx and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BLX, is a multilateral financial institution dedicated to promoting foreign trade and regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Panama City, the bank provides specialized trade finance solutions to corporate clients and financial institutions, helping to facilitate cross-border transactions across key markets in the region. Its services encompass import and export financing, supply chain solutions, project and structured finance, as well as treasury and risk management products.

Established in 1977 by a consortium of 20 Latin American and Caribbean governments in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), BLADEx has a mandate to support economic development through trade facilitation.

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