Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Upgraded to "Neutral" at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America upgraded Banco Santander Chile from "underperform" to "neutral" and set a $35 price target, implying roughly a 4.85% upside from the current price.
• Analyst views are mixed—JPMorgan upgraded to "overweight" with a $40 target while Goldman Sachs cut to "strong sell"—and the MarketBeat consensus is a “Hold” with an average price target of $35.50.
• Fundamentals: shares trade near $33.38 with a $15.73B market cap and P/E of 14.51; last quarter EPS was $0.62, with a net margin of 24.57% and ROE of 21.51%.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report released on Wednesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $35.00 target price on the bank's stock. Bank of America's price target points to a potential upside of 4.85% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on BSAC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander Chile from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Banco Santander Chile from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Banco Santander Chile from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Banco Santander Chile from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $38.00 target price on shares of Banco Santander Chile in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.50.

Banco Santander Chile Price Performance

Shares of Banco Santander Chile stock opened at $33.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.99. Banco Santander Chile has a twelve month low of $20.77 and a twelve month high of $37.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Banco Santander Chile had a net margin of 24.57% and a return on equity of 21.51%. The firm had revenue of $740.07 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Banco Santander Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander Chile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BSAC. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Banco Santander Chile in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 739.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 199.8% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 577.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander Chile by 703.0% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. 6.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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