Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

Several brokerages have weighed in on BCH. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco De Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Banco De Chile from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research raised Banco De Chile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco De Chile in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on Banco De Chile and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

Banco De Chile Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of Banco De Chile stock opened at $39.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.50. The company has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. Banco De Chile has a 1 year low of $27.08 and a 1 year high of $46.77.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.02). Banco De Chile had a return on equity of 23.94% and a net margin of 33.09%.The firm had revenue of $831.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $878.92 million. As a group, analysts expect that Banco De Chile will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco De Chile Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were given a $2.1877 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. Banco De Chile’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in Banco De Chile by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 835,782 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,755,000 after purchasing an additional 190,567 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 110.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 494,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,775,000 after acquiring an additional 258,844 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 199.1% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 352,465 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,680,000 after acquiring an additional 234,619 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 177.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 298,085 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,032,000 after acquiring an additional 190,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 216,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after acquiring an additional 75,924 shares during the last quarter. 1.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Banco De Chile

Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) is a leading Chilean financial institution headquartered in Santiago. Founded in 1893, the bank is one of the country’s oldest and most established banking groups, serving a broad spectrum of individual, corporate and institutional clients. It is publicly listed and operates under Chilean banking regulations while participating in international capital markets.

The bank’s core businesses include retail banking, commercial and corporate banking, and investment banking.