Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Short Interest Up 39.3% in March

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 39.3% in March to 688,438 shares (up from 494,338 on March 15), leaving a short-interest ratio of about 1.5 days and representing roughly 0.1% of the float.
• Recent results show solid profitability: the bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, a 24.57% net margin and 21.51% return on equity on $787.5 million in revenue, with analysts forecasting ~2.07 EPS for the year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is a Hold with a $35.50 target, while JPMorgan upgraded to Overweight ($40 target) and Goldman Sachs previously downgraded to Strong Sell; the stock recently traded around $35.56 with a $16.75 billion market cap.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 688,438 shares, an increase of 39.3% from the March 15th total of 494,338 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 473,961 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Banco Santander Chile in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander Chile by 577.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander Chile by 199.8% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander Chile by 739.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander Chile by 703.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334 shares during the period. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Chile Stock Performance

NYSE:BSAC traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.56. The stock had a trading volume of 734,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,177. Banco Santander Chile has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $37.72. The stock has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.55. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $33.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 24.57% and a return on equity of 21.51%. The business had revenue of $787.51 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BSAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.50.

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.

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