Banco Santander Brasil SA (NYSE:BSBR) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Banco Santander Brasil SA (NYSE:BSBR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,416,949 shares, a drop of 60.3% from the August 15th total of 11,126,167 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,380,062 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Insider Activity at Banco Santander Brasil

In other Banco Santander Brasil news, insider Mariana Cahen Margulies sold 42,545 shares of Banco Santander Brasil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.70, for a total value of $242,506.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 40,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,567.50. The trade was a 51.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rudolf Gschliffner sold 11,507 shares of Banco Santander Brasil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.73, for a total value of $65,935.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,190.16. The trade was a 25.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 162,638 shares of company stock valued at $930,663 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander Brasil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BSBR. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Banco Santander Brasil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,735,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Brasil by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 221,909 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 67,224 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in Banco Santander Brasil by 765.6% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 139,178 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 123,100 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander Brasil by 58.9% in the first quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 86,883 shares of the bank’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 32,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Banco Santander Brasil by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 81,609 shares of the bank’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. 14.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander Brasil Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Banco Santander Brasil stock traded down $0.07 on Monday, hitting $5.96. 2,525,644 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,044,040. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.69. Banco Santander Brasil has a 52 week low of $4.94 and a 52 week high of $7.32.

Banco Santander Brasil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.1045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BSBR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Banco Santander Brasil from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $6.50 to $6.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Banco Santander Brasil from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Banco Santander Brasil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Banco Santander Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Banco Santander Brasil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

Banco Santander Brasil Company Profile

Banco Santander Brasil SA is a Brazilian financial institution and a subsidiary of Spain-based Banco Santander. Headquartered in São Paulo, the company provides banking and financial services to individual customers, small and midsize businesses, corporations and institutional clients throughout Brazil.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, credit and debit cards, mortgages, insurance, investments, asset management, payment solutions and foreign-exchange services.