Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

BSAC has been the subject of several other reports. Itau BBA Securities raised Banco Santander Chile from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 price objective on Banco Santander Chile in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Banco Santander Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander Chile has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.00.

Banco Santander Chile Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BSAC traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $32.10. 355,645 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 417,316. Banco Santander Chile has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $37.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $791.52 million for the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 21.00%. As a group, research analysts predict that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander Chile

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Banco Santander Chile during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 739.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Banco Santander Chile by 199.8% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 577.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 703.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Santander Chile

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) is one of the leading financial institutions in Chile and a key component of the global Santander Group. The bank offers a comprehensive range of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial lending, deposit accounts, credit cards, wealth management, insurance products and corporate banking solutions. Headquartered in Santiago, it operates an extensive network of branches, ATMs and digital platforms to serve individual customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations across the country.

Originally founded as Banco de Santiago in the late 1970s, the institution became part of the Santander Group following the privatization wave in Chile during the late 1980s.