Banco Santander Brasil SA (NYSE:BSBR) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 60.3% to 4.42 million shares by August 31, representing about 0.1% of outstanding shares and just 1.3 days to cover.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: BSBR has an average “Reduce” rating and a $6.00 price target, with several firms downgrading the stock to neutral, hold or sell.
• The shares opened at $6.01 and offer a 7.0% dividend yield, while insiders have sold 162,638 shares worth approximately $930,663 over the past 90 days.

Banco Santander Brasil SA (NYSE:BSBR - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,416,949 shares, a drop of 60.3% from the August 15th total of 11,126,167 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,380,062 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BSBR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Banco Santander Brasil from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Banco Santander Brasil from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $6.50 to $6.00 in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Banco Santander Brasil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Banco Santander Brasil from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Banco Santander Brasil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $6.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Banco Santander Brasil news, insider Celso Mateus De Queiroz sold 29,299 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total value of $169,348.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $137,783.64. The trade was a 55.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gustavo De Sousa Santos sold 29,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.70, for a total transaction of $166,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 53,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $302,231.10. This trade represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,638 shares of company stock valued at $930,663. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander Brasil

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BSBR. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander Brasil in the 4th quarter worth about $9,772,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Banco Santander Brasil during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,735,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Banco Santander Brasil by 17.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,957,288 shares of the bank's stock worth $16,531,000 after acquiring an additional 430,531 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Banco Santander Brasil by 2,671.0% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 326,451 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 314,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander Brasil in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,322,000. 14.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander Brasil Price Performance

Shares of BSBR opened at $6.01 on Friday. Banco Santander Brasil has a twelve month low of $4.94 and a twelve month high of $7.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm's 50-day moving average is $5.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.71.

Banco Santander Brasil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.1045 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th.

About Banco Santander Brasil

Banco Santander Brasil SA is a Brazilian financial institution and a subsidiary of Spain-based Banco Santander. Headquartered in São Paulo, the company provides banking and financial services to individual customers, small and midsize businesses, corporations and institutional clients throughout Brazil.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, credit and debit cards, mortgages, insurance, investments, asset management, payment solutions and foreign-exchange services.

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