Wall Street Zen Upgrades Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Banco De Chile was upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a more favorable outlook on the stock.
• The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.63.
• Institutional investors have shown increased interest, with several firms, including EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC and Brooklyn Investment Group, significantly raising their stakes in the company recently.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Banco De Chile Stock Up 0.8%

Banco De Chile stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.58. The stock had a trading volume of 207,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,094. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.93. Banco De Chile has a one year low of $22.06 and a one year high of $31.84.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $801.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.11 million. Banco De Chile had a return on equity of 23.00% and a net margin of 32.62%. On average, analysts expect that Banco De Chile will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco De Chile

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCH. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banco De Chile by 53.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 216,950 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,747,000 after acquiring an additional 75,924 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Banco De Chile by 104.6% in the 1st quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 437,338 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,054,000 after buying an additional 223,565 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Banco De Chile by 289.5% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 86,678 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,296,000 after buying an additional 64,425 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Banco De Chile by 231.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 92,323 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 64,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Banco De Chile by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,260 shares of the bank's stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.24% of the company's stock.

Banco De Chile Company Profile

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.