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

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 stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Banco De Chile Stock Performance

BCH stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.94. 7,636 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 296,396. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. Banco De Chile has a 1-year low of $22.06 and a 1-year high of $31.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.95. The firm has a market cap of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.30.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Banco De Chile had a return on equity of 23.00% and a net margin of 32.62%.The company had revenue of $801.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $820.11 million. On average, research analysts expect that Banco De Chile will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Banco De Chile

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 4.8% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 8,145 shares of the bank's stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 7.5% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 7.4% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,798 shares of the bank's stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 161.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 823.3% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,385 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.24% of the company's stock.

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.