Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $21.56 and last traded at $21.53, with a volume of 11800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America lowered shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.74.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.05). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 19.16%. Research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 76.4% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 861,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,036,000 after acquiring an additional 372,936 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 79.6% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 296,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,164,000 after buying an additional 131,637 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Banco Santander-Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,724,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,927,417 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,533,000 after buying an additional 75,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 25.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 293,049 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after purchasing an additional 59,215 shares during the last quarter. 6.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.