Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $36.66 and last traded at $36.29, with a volume of 543728 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BSAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Citigroup cut shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Banco Santander Chile Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.56.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 17th. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $740.10 million during the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 24.74% and a return on equity of 22.18%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. TT International Asset Management LTD bought a new stake in Banco Santander Chile during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,685,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 200.9% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 832,647 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,065,000 after purchasing an additional 555,919 shares in the last quarter. INCA Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 36.4% during the third quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 715,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,953,000 after purchasing an additional 191,014 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 120.3% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 254,585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,747,000 after purchasing an additional 139,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 462,111.1% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 124,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after buying an additional 124,770 shares in the last quarter. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco Santander Chile Company Profile

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.