Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $31.67 and last traded at $31.3440, with a volume of 104322 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BSAC. Citigroup cut Banco Santander Chile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Banco Santander Chile from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Banco Santander Chile from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Banco Santander Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $27.67.

Banco Santander Chile Trading Down 1.2%

The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,113,470 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,507,000 after buying an additional 17,119 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,240,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 525,577 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,928,000 after purchasing an additional 85,964 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in Banco Santander Chile by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,016 shares of the bank’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Banco Santander Chile during the 3rd quarter valued at $623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

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.