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

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day 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 research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Banco Santander Chile from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $27.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander Chile

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 54,450.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,091 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Simplex Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander Chile in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander Chile in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 577.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 380.5% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,532 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Chile Trading Up 0.8%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.24. The stock has a market cap of $14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $581.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $732.50 million. Banco Santander Chile had a return on equity of 22.18% and a net margin of 24.74%. Equities research analysts expect that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share 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.