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

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 454,600 shares, an increase of 59.6% from the October 31st total of 284,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 177,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco de Chile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the second quarter worth about $294,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Banco de Chile by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 214,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,852,000 after buying an additional 41,894 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in Banco de Chile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,462,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Banco de Chile by 629.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,564 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco de Chile in the 1st quarter valued at $336,000. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco de Chile Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:BCH traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.80. 62,681 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 220,857. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.92 and a 200 day moving average of $23.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Banco de Chile has a twelve month low of $20.93 and a twelve month high of $25.97.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $980.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $796.96 million. Banco de Chile had a net margin of 30.00% and a return on equity of 22.69%. On average, research analysts forecast that Banco de Chile will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

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.