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

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $23.80 and last traded at $23.53, with a volume of 14277 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Banco Santander-Chile Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.61 and its 200-day moving average is $20.29.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BSAC. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 247.3% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 274,114 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,170,000 after purchasing an additional 195,189 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 296,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,164,000 after acquiring an additional 131,637 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 659,627 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,441,000 after acquiring an additional 116,200 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 365,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,893,000 after acquiring an additional 113,325 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Banco Santander-Chile in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,724,000. 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.