Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Banco De Chile has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating, indicating a negative outlook from analysts.
• The bank reported a quarterly EPS of $0.64, slightly exceeding the consensus estimate, but its revenue fell short of expectations at $801.11 million.
• Institutional investors have been active, with Wellington Management Group and other firms acquiring new stakes or increasing their holdings in the bank during the fourth quarter.

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

Banco De Chile Price Performance

NYSE:BCH traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.74. 48,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 297,589. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.14 and a 200 day moving average of $28.24. The company has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Banco De Chile has a 1-year low of $22.06 and a 1-year high of $31.84.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Banco De Chile had a net margin of 32.62% and a return on equity of 23.00%. The company had revenue of $801.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $820.11 million. Research analysts forecast that Banco De Chile will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in 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. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Banco De Chile by 276.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,513 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,845 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Banco De Chile by 1,355.4% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the bank's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,009 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Banco De Chile during the fourth quarter valued at about $151,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banco De Chile by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,713 shares of the bank's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 1,424 shares during the last quarter. 1.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.