Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Broker consensus rates Banco de Chile as "Reduce" from five covering firms (one sell, four holds) with an average one‑year target of about $40, while analyst actions remain mixed (e.g., JPMorgan raised its target to $36, UBS set $48, Wall Street Zen cut to sell).
• The bank missed quarterly estimates, reporting $0.58 EPS vs. $0.60 expected and $831.6M revenue vs. $878.9M consensus; the stock trades near $38 with a 52‑week range of $23.66–$46.77, a market cap of $19.21B and a P/E of 13.63.
• Institutional activity shows notable buying—Goldman Sachs increased its stake by 53.8% to 216,950 shares—though total institutional ownership remains low at about 1.24%.

Shares of Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

BCH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Banco De Chile in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Banco De Chile from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on Banco De Chile and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research raised Banco De Chile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banco De Chile from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th.

Institutional Trading of Banco De Chile

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Banco De Chile by 53.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 216,950 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,747,000 after acquiring an additional 75,924 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,517 shares of the bank's stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 3,277 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Banco De Chile in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,266,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in Banco De Chile by 6.0% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 76,642 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,331,000 after buying an additional 4,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Banco De Chile by 161.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. 1.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco De Chile Stock Performance

Shares of BCH opened at $38.04 on Friday. Banco De Chile has a 52-week low of $23.66 and a 52-week high of $46.77. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $41.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.20.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). Banco De Chile had a net margin of 33.09% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The company had revenue of $831.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $878.92 million. Research analysts forecast that Banco De Chile will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco De Chile Company Profile

Banco de Chile NYSE: BCH is a leading Chilean financial institution headquartered in Santiago. Founded in 1893, the bank is one of the country's oldest and most established banking groups, serving a broad spectrum of individual, corporate and institutional clients. It is publicly listed and operates under Chilean banking regulations while participating in international capital markets.

The bank's core businesses include retail banking, commercial and corporate banking, and investment banking.

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