Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Banco Santander Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a research report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Banco Santander Chile from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised Banco Santander Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

Banco Santander Chile Price Performance

Shares of BSAC opened at $30.53 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Banco Santander Chile has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $37.72. The stock has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.27.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $787.51 million for the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 24.95%. On average, equities analysts predict that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BSAC. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander Chile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 577.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 199.8% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 739.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 703.0% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 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.