Zacks Investment Research Upgrades Banco Santander-Chile (NASDAQ:BSAC) to Buy

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NASDAQ:BSAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday, July 18th. The firm currently has $29.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

According to Zacks, “Banco Santiago is the largest bank in Chile, in terms of assets with Ch$4,088 billion (approximately US$9.86 billion ) as of March 31, 1997. The bank is the result of the merger of two of the largest institutions in the Chilean banking system, Banco O’Higgins S.A., mainly a corporate bank, and Banco de Santiago S.A., mainly focused in consumer and middle-market lending. “

BSAC has been the topic of several other reports. Credit Suisse Group AG reissued a neutral rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $25.00) on shares of Banco Santander-Chile in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) boosted their price objective on shares of Banco Santander-Chile from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Banco Santander-Chile presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $25.25.

Banco Santander-Chile (NASDAQ:BSAC) traded up 0.03% on Tuesday, reaching $29.48. The company had a trading volume of 163,611 shares. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.12 and a 200 day moving average of $24.66. Banco Santander-Chile has a 12 month low of $20.22 and a 12 month high of $30.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion and a PE ratio of 18.42.

Banco Santander-Chile (NASDAQ:BSAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $704.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.92 million. Banco Santander-Chile had a net margin of 29.10% and a return on equity of 20.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Banco Santander-Chile will post $1.77 EPS for the current year.

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Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter worth about $235,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 27.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 11,930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 2,580 shares during the period. Eqis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter worth $428,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 58.8% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 271,592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,812,000 after buying an additional 100,523 shares during the period.

Banco Santander-Chile Company Profile

Banco Santander-Chile (the Bank), formerly Banco Santander Chile, is a Chilean bank. The Bank’s segments include Retail banking, Middle-market, Global Corporate Banking and Corporate Activities (Other). The Retail Banking segment consists of individuals and small to middle-sized entities (SMEs). The Middle-market segment serves companies and large corporations.

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