Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 203,569 Shares of Banco De Chile $BCH

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford cut its stake in Banco de Chile by 21.7% in Q4, selling 203,569 shares and finishing the quarter with 732,470 shares valued at about $27.83 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" with a $40 average price target, based on four Hold and one Sell analyst ratings (Goldman Sachs recently downgraded to Sell).
• Banco de Chile slightly missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and paid a special dividend of $2.1877 per share (ex-dividend March 30, paid April 13); shares trade around $38.78 with a 12‑month range of $26.43–$46.77.

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its stake in Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Free Report) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 732,470 shares of the bank's stock after selling 203,569 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings in Banco De Chile were worth $27,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 53.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 216,950 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,747,000 after purchasing an additional 75,924 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Banco De Chile during the second quarter worth $1,266,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 161.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Banco De Chile during the second quarter worth $238,000. Finally, Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco De Chile during the second quarter worth $323,000. Institutional investors own 1.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Banco De Chile in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Banco De Chile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco De Chile from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Banco De Chile from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group set a $48.00 price target on shares of Banco De Chile and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Banco De Chile Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BCH opened at $38.78 on Tuesday. Banco De Chile has a twelve month low of $26.43 and a twelve month high of $46.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.07. The company has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 23.94% and a net margin of 33.09%.The firm had revenue of $831.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $878.92 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Banco De Chile will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Banco De Chile Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $2.1877 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. Banco De Chile's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.14%.

Banco De Chile 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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