Short Interest in Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Rises By 41.9%

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 329,200 shares, a growth of 41.9% from the August 31st total of 232,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 168,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco de Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

Institutional Trading of Banco de Chile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Banco de Chile by 163.9% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 215.2% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 146,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,384,000 after buying an additional 100,108 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 143.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 280,716 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,479,000 after purchasing an additional 165,467 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Banco de Chile by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 117,367 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,614,000 after buying an additional 17,241 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 20,020 shares of the bank’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco de Chile Trading Down 0.5 %

BCH traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.52. 147,308 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 195,986. Banco de Chile has a one year low of $19.20 and a one year high of $25.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.57.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $810.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.15 million. Banco de Chile had a net margin of 28.99% and a return on equity of 22.72%. As a group, analysts forecast that Banco de Chile will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.