Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA) Short Interest Down 30.2% in August

Key Points

• Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA) experienced a significant drop in short interest of 30.2%, totaling 564,000 shares as of August 31st, indicating a change in investor sentiment.
• The bank's stock price increased by 3.9% during mid-day trading, reaching $44.12, with a market capitalization of $2.82 billion.
• Macro Bank announced a boost in its monthly dividend to $0.3665, with a dividend yield of 10.0%, set to be paid on September 26th.

Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 564,000 shares, a drop of 30.2% from the August 15th total of 808,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 423,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 423,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BMA shares. Citigroup downgraded Macro Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Macro Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Macro Bank currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macro Bank

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Shilanski & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Macro Bank by 2.4% in the first quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 4,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Macro Bank by 19.0% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 775 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Macro Bank by 31.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the bank's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Titan Global Capital Management USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Macro Bank by 4.0% in the second quarter. Titan Global Capital Management USA LLC now owns 8,368 shares of the bank's stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Macro Bank by 6.1% in the first quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,539 shares of the bank's stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter.

Macro Bank Price Performance

Macro Bank stock traded down $1.14 on Friday, reaching $39.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 846,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Macro Bank has a twelve month low of $38.30 and a twelve month high of $118.42. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.44, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.68. The business's fifty day moving average price is $61.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.42.

Macro Bank (NYSE:BMA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.04). Macro Bank had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $834.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $752.51 million. Equities analysts expect that Macro Bank will post 7.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macro Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.3665 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.2%. This is a boost from Macro Bank's previous monthly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Macro Bank's payout ratio is currently 38.48%.

About Macro Bank

Banco Macro SA provides various banking products and services to retail and corporate customers in Argentina. It offers various retail banking products and services, such as savings and checking accounts, time deposits, credit and debit cards, consumer finance loans, mortgage loans, automobile loans, overdrafts, credit-related services, home and car insurance coverage, tax collection, utility payments, automated teller machines, and money transfers.