Bank of Chile (NYSE: BCH – Get a rating) benefited from a sharp drop in short-term interest rates in June. As of June 15, there was short interest totaling 149,500 shares, down 87.7% from the May 31 total of 1,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 152,800 shares, the short-term interest rate ratio is currently 1.0 day.

Several large investors have recently changed their stake in the company. Ethic Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Banco de Chile in the first quarter worth approximately $297,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Banco de Chile by 70.6% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 16,679 shares in the bank worth $358,000 after buying an additional 6,904 shares last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Banco de Chile by 1.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 597,813 shares of the bank worth $12,795,000 after purchasing an additional 7,462 shares in the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual SA acquired a new stake in Banco de Chile during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,268,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Banco de Chile by 2.6% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 24,372 shares of the bank worth $522,000 after buying 612 more shares last quarter. 0.89% of the shares are currently held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Several equity analysts commented on the stock. Itau BBA Securities cut Banco de Chile shares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a price target of $22.00 for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 7. Banco Santander has raised Banco de Chile shares to a “buy” rating and set a price target of $25.00 for the company in a Friday, May 20 research report. Grupo Santander upgraded Banco de Chile’s shares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperforming” rating and set a price target of $25.00 for the company in a Thursday, May 19 research report. StockNews.com began covering Banco de Chile shares in a research report on Thursday, March 31. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upgraded Banco de Chile shares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperforming” rating and raised its price target for the company from $18.00 to $25.00 in a report. Wednesday, March 2. Four research analysts gave the stock a hold rating and four gave the company a buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco de Chile currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Banco de Chile stock traded down $0.46 at midday Tuesday, hitting $18.34. 22,727 shares of the company were traded, against an average volume of 169,658. Banco de Chile has a 12-month low of $15.60 and a 12-month high of $22.74. The company has a debt ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.61, a growth price-to-earnings ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.89.

Bank of Chile (NYSE: BCH – Get a rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 29. The bank reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.69 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.09. Banco de Chile had a net margin of 40.44% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company posted revenue of $560.31 million for the quarter, versus a consensus estimate of $742.05 million. On average, equity research analysts expect Banco de Chile to post an EPS of 2.31 for the current fiscal year.

About Banco de Chile (Get a rating)

Banco de Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services to customers in Chile. It operates through retail banking, wholesale banking and cash and money market segments. The Company offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, current accounts, deposits and current accounts, savings accounts and term deposits; commercial, mortgage, consumer, working capital, syndicated and installment loans; and credit cards.

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