Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $31.81 and last traded at $31.7850, with a volume of 46432 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BSAC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a research 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 note on Tuesday, December 30th. Citigroup lowered shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Banco Santander Chile from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Banco Santander Chile from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander Chile currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Banco Santander Chile Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $14.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.77.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 17th. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $740.10 million during the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a return on equity of 22.18% and a net margin of 24.74%. Analysts expect that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander Chile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 0.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,113,470 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,507,000 after acquiring an additional 17,119 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD acquired a new stake in Banco Santander Chile in the third quarter worth about $24,685,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Banco Santander Chile by 200.9% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 832,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,065,000 after purchasing an additional 555,919 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 738,038 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,525,000 after purchasing an additional 72,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, INCA Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 715,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,953,000 after purchasing an additional 191,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Santander Chile

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) is one of the leading financial institutions in Chile and a key component of the global Santander Group. The bank offers a comprehensive range of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial lending, deposit accounts, credit cards, wealth management, insurance products and corporate banking solutions. Headquartered in Santiago, it operates an extensive network of branches, ATMs and digital platforms to serve individual customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations across the country.

Originally founded as Banco de Santiago in the late 1970s, the institution became part of the Santander Group following the privatization wave in Chile during the late 1980s.