D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Free Report) by 247.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,114 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 195,189 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Banco Santander-Chile worth $5,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the bank's stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,089 shares of the bank's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Banco Santander-Chile by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 492,868 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 601.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,810 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,415 shares of the bank's stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.42% of the company's stock.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BSAC traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 301,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,438. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.46 and a 200-day moving average of $21.25. Banco Santander-Chile has a 12 month low of $18.19 and a 12 month high of $25.75.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.06. Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 19.16%. The company had revenue of $767.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $717.38 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander-Chile Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were given a $1.349 dividend. This is a boost from Banco Santander-Chile's previous annual dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a yield of 4.8%. Banco Santander-Chile's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BSAC shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Banco Santander-Chile from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.33.

About Banco Santander-Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services.