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

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (NYSE:BLX) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 284,500 shares, a growth of 10.6% from the March 15th total of 257,200 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 130,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLX. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 55,805 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 9,771 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $488,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 4.7% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 46,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $986,000 after buying an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomas White International Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. by 0.3% in the first quarter. Thomas White International Ltd. now owns 353,718 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,510,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. 19.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BLX stock opened at $29.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.18. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. has a twelve month low of $17.09 and a twelve month high of $30.65.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. (NYSE:BLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The bank reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $77.79 million during the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 23.34%. Equities analysts forecast that Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

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

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A.’s payout ratio is presently 43.86%.

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 through two segments, Commercial and Treasury. It also 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.