Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Sets New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) reached 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America downgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.33.

Banco Santander-Chile Price 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 market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.36.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts predict 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 2.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,927,417 shares of the bank's stock worth $81,533,000 after acquiring an additional 75,888 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 25.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 293,049 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,084,000 after buying an additional 59,215 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the 3rd quarter valued at about $527,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,164,490 shares of the bank's stock worth $63,859,000 after acquiring an additional 33,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 37,660 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.