Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Cut to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Banco Santander Chile from “strong buy” to “hold,” bringing the overall analyst consensus to “hold” with an average price target of $35.40.
• BSAC shares opened at $35.12 and were up 0.7%; the bank reported quarterly EPS of $0.87, $905.26 million in revenue, a 27.04% net margin and a 22.94% return on equity.
• Institutional investors increased their positions, including USS Investment Management’s 45.5% stake increase; institutional investors collectively own 6.42% of the company.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

BSAC has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Banco Santander Chile from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Banco Santander Chile to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Banco Santander Chile from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander Chile presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.40.

Banco Santander Chile Stock Up 0.7%

BSAC stock opened at $35.12 on Thursday. Banco Santander Chile has a one year low of $23.71 and a one year high of $37.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.98 and a 200-day moving average of $33.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.52.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 22.94%. The firm had revenue of $905.26 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Banco Santander Chile by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,599,117 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,749,000 after acquiring an additional 5,660 shares during the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Banco Santander Chile by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,561,544 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,603,000 after acquiring an additional 488,676 shares during the last quarter. INCA Investments LLC raised its position in Banco Santander Chile by 18.8% during the first quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 1,263,892 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,214,000 after acquiring an additional 199,618 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 9.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 643,160 shares of the bank's stock valued at $21,461,000 after purchasing an additional 57,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 626,218 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,482,000 after purchasing an additional 50,191 shares in 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.

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