Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 412,436 shares, an increase of 76.9% from the January 29th total of 233,212 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 159,207 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 159,207 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,163,826 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,907,000 after acquiring an additional 15,291 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior in the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 122,864 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,648,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 7.5% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,746 shares of the bank’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. 19.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLX. Wall Street Zen lowered Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Trading Down 2.2%

BLX opened at $50.03 on Monday. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior has a one year low of $31.14 and a one year high of $51.99. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.85.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The bank reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $88.80 million during the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 27.11%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $0.6875 dividend. This is a positive change from Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior’s payout ratio is 45.01%.

About Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior SA, commonly known as BLADEx and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BLX, is a multilateral financial institution dedicated to promoting foreign trade and regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Panama City, the bank provides specialized trade finance solutions to corporate clients and financial institutions, helping to facilitate cross-border transactions across key markets in the region. Its services encompass import and export financing, supply chain solutions, project and structured finance, as well as treasury and risk management products.

Established in 1977 by a consortium of 20 Latin American and Caribbean governments in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), BLADEx has a mandate to support economic development through trade facilitation.