Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Short Interest Update

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 903,292 shares, an increase of 74.2% from the April 15th total of 518,614 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 559,725 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco De Chile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Banco De Chile by 110.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 494,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,775,000 after acquiring an additional 258,844 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Banco De Chile by 199.1% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 352,465 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,680,000 after acquiring an additional 234,619 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Banco De Chile by 177.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 298,085 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,032,000 after acquiring an additional 190,741 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in Banco De Chile by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 835,782 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,755,000 after acquiring an additional 190,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its position in Banco De Chile by 128.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 197,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,021,000 after acquiring an additional 111,253 shares in the last quarter. 1.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco De Chile Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:BCH traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $36.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 235,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 412,857. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Banco De Chile has a twelve month low of $27.08 and a twelve month high of $46.77. The stock has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.24.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $321.27 million for the quarter. Banco De Chile had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 29.95%. On average, equities analysts predict that Banco De Chile will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Banco De Chile Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a $2.1877 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. Banco De Chile’s payout ratio is currently 68.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Banco De Chile from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Banco De Chile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group set a $48.00 price target on Banco De Chile and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $40.00.

Banco De Chile Company Profile

Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) is a leading Chilean financial institution headquartered in Santiago. Founded in 1893, the bank is one of the country’s oldest and most established banking groups, serving a broad spectrum of individual, corporate and institutional clients. It is publicly listed and operates under Chilean banking regulations while participating in international capital markets.

The bank’s core businesses include retail banking, commercial and corporate banking, and investment banking.