Credicorp shorts rise as options shift bearish

Why this matters: Short sellers have added to their BAP positions at pace over the past month. Options sentiment has shifted notably. These moves come despite a near-total absence of squeeze pressure.

Short interest builds, borrow stays loose

Estimated short interest in Credicorp has climbed around 17% over the past month. Shares short stand at roughly 1.26 million as of September 3.

The absolute level remains modest. Float percentage data is not available in this snapshot, so the raw share count is the clearest signal.

Critically, the lending market is not tight. Availability sits at 7,547% of short interest. That means for every share currently borrowed, more than 75 additional shares are available to lend. There is no squeeze setup here.

Cost to borrow jumped 50% week-on-week to 0.47%. That is still a very low absolute rate. The move is worth watching, but it does not signal stress.

Put/call ratio doubles in two weeks

The sharper signal is in the options market. BAP's put/call ratio stood at around 0.27 throughout most of August. It has since climbed to 0.89 — more than tripling in roughly two weeks.

At 0.89, the PCR is now 1.23 standard deviations above its 20-day mean of 0.54. That is not extreme, but the speed of the move is notable. Traders are buying significantly more put protection than they were a fortnight ago.

The 52-week PCR range runs from 0.23 to 5.86. Today's reading is well within normal bounds historically, but the directional shift is clear.

Analysts still constructive

The bearish options repositioning stands in contrast to the analyst backdrop. UBS raised its price target to $473 in late August, maintaining a Buy. That target implies around 23% upside to the September 3 close of $384.19.

Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight in June with a $480 target. The consensus mean sits at $422.69. Analysts as a group remain positive on the Peruvian banking group.

Next earnings are scheduled for November 9.

Data summary

• Shares short: ~1.26 million (Sept 3); up ~17% over one month
• Availability: 7,547% of short interest — lending market extremely loose
• Cost to borrow: 0.47%, up 50% week-on-week; down ~18% month-on-month
• Put/call ratio: 0.89 vs 20-day mean of 0.54 (z-score: +1.23)
• ORTEX short score: 33.6 (Sept 2), edging higher over the past two weeks
• UBS price target: $473 (Buy, raised Aug 20)
• Next earnings: November 9, 2026