Erste Group Bank Upgrades Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) to “Strong-Buy”

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was upgraded by analysts at Erste Group Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Banco Santander Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 price objective on Banco Santander Chile in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Banco Santander Chile from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Banco Santander Chile has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.50.

Banco Santander Chile Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of Banco Santander Chile stock opened at $30.53 on Tuesday. Banco Santander Chile has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $37.72. The firm has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $787.51 million for the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 21.00%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander Chile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSAC. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander Chile in the second quarter worth about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 577.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 199.8% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banco Santander Chile by 739.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 703.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 2,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

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.