Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX) Short Interest Up 140.5% in March

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 394,969 shares, a growth of 140.5% from the February 26th total of 164,215 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 149,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,163,826 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,907,000 after acquiring an additional 15,291 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 11.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 46,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,843 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. bought a new position in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 12.0% in the third quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.47% of the company’s stock.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Price Performance

Shares of BLX stock opened at $49.19 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 0.83. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior has a 1-year low of $31.14 and a 1-year high of $51.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The bank reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $325.94 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.6875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior’s payout ratio is currently 45.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

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.