Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.48.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BSAC shares. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com raised Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

Shares of BSAC opened at $20.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.38. Banco Santander-Chile has a 52-week low of $16.89 and a 52-week high of $21.19.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.01). Banco Santander-Chile had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $599.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $693.44 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BSAC. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 115.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile in the second quarter worth $195,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the second quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 88.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,788 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 6,017 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Santander-Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services.