Bancolombia S.A. (NYSE:CIB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Bancolombia S.A. (NYSE:CIB) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 295,800 shares, an increase of 10.4% from the August 31st total of 268,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 241,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CIB shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bancolombia from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Bancolombia from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Bancolombia from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $32.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bancolombia by 164.9% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bancolombia in the 1st quarter worth $89,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bancolombia in the 4th quarter worth $117,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bancolombia in the 4th quarter worth $123,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Bancolombia by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter.

Bancolombia Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIB traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.24. 307,372 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 268,169. Bancolombia has a 1 year low of $24.15 and a 1 year high of $37.85. The company has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.91, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.59.

Bancolombia (NYSE:CIB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The bank reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.01. Bancolombia had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 13.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Equities analysts predict that Bancolombia will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bancolombia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.8456 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.83%. Bancolombia’s payout ratio is currently 53.14%.

Bancolombia Company Profile

Bancolombia SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services in Colombia and internationally. The company operates through nine segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment Banking, Brokerage, International Banking, and All Other.