Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.19 EPS

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.19, Zacks reports. Banco Santander Chile had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 24.95%.

Banco Santander Chile Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE BSAC traded up $0.39 on Wednesday, reaching $34.33. 139,152 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 401,203. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $32.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Banco Santander Chile has a fifty-two week low of $22.77 and a fifty-two week high of $37.72.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander Chile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 221.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 271,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,457,000 after acquiring an additional 187,151 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 120.3% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 254,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,747,000 after purchasing an additional 139,015 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Banco Santander Chile by 34.8% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 439,613 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,087,000 after purchasing an additional 113,408 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Banco Santander Chile by 457.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 107,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 87,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 626,218 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,482,000 after purchasing an additional 50,191 shares during the period. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BSAC shares. Citigroup raised shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Banco Santander Chile from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Banco Santander Chile from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Banco Santander Chile from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.40.

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.