Matthews International Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH)

Matthews International Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 17,644 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,411,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 293.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 128,448 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,251,000 after buying an additional 95,797 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 61.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 243,009 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,499,000 after buying an additional 92,532 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 214,398 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,852,000 after buying an additional 41,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 379,938 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,616,000 after buying an additional 28,959 shares in the last quarter. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco de Chile Price Performance

Shares of BCH stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 94,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 185,938. The firm's 50-day moving average is $23.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. Banco de Chile has a 1-year low of $20.93 and a 1-year high of $25.97. The company has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.44.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.03). Banco de Chile had a return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 30.00%. The firm had revenue of $980.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $796.96 million. On average, research analysts predict that Banco de Chile will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Banco de Chile from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

About Banco de Chile

Banco de Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking services to customers in Chile. The company offers checking and debit accounts, debit and credit cards, and lines of credit; mortgage, consume, commercial, general purpose mortgage loans, and finance leases; and factoring services, mutual fund management, stock brokerage, foreign trade, payments and collections, insurance brokerage, including life and general insurance, as well as time deposits, savings instruments, and foreign currency services through branches under the Banco de Chile and Banco Edwards brands.