Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) reached a new 52-week high during 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 Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America lowered 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 note on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander-Chile currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BSAC. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda lifted its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 171.7% during the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 96,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 60,889 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,089 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 126,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after buying an additional 37,660 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831 shares during the period. 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.