Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 267,900 shares, a decline of 27.5% from the February 13th total of 369,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 242,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BCH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Banco de Chile from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Banco de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco de Chile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 293.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 128,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,251,000 after buying an additional 95,797 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Banco de Chile by 18,631.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,728 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 21,612 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Banco de Chile by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 858,889 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,738,000 after purchasing an additional 15,312 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Banco de Chile in the third quarter worth $638,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 81.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 5,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Banco de Chile Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE BCH traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.72. The stock had a trading volume of 183,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,675. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.33. The firm has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.39. Banco de Chile has a fifty-two week low of $20.93 and a fifty-two week high of $27.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Banco de Chile Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $2.1037 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. Banco de Chile’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.78%.

About Banco de Chile

Banco de Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking services to customers in Chile. The company offers checking and debit accounts, debit and credit cards, and lines of credit; mortgage, consume, commercial, general purpose mortgage loans, and finance leases; and factoring services, mutual fund management, stock brokerage, foreign trade, payments and collections, insurance brokerage, including life and general insurance, as well as time deposits, savings instruments, and foreign currency services through branches under the Banco de Chile and Banco Edwards brands.