Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $29.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Banco Santander Chile traded as high as $30.20 and last traded at $30.1130, with a volume of 110315 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.90.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Banco Santander Chile from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $27.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander Chile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Banco Santander Chile during the 1st quarter worth about $238,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 9.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 206,469 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,707,000 after purchasing an additional 17,661 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 30.3% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 31,529 shares of the bank’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Banco Santander Chile in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,990,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 182.4% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 40,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 26,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Chile Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.28.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 24.74% and a return on equity of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $581.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $732.50 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

About Banco Santander Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services.