Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Shares Bought by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 290,572 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 21,983 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.06% of Banco Santander-Chile worth $5,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BSAC. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 659,627 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,441,000 after acquiring an additional 116,200 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 365,478 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,893,000 after acquiring an additional 113,325 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 123.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 147,392 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,780,000 after acquiring an additional 81,322 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,988,659 shares of the bank's stock valued at $75,226,000 after acquiring an additional 61,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 171.7% in the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 96,355 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 60,889 shares in the last quarter. 6.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander-Chile Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE BSAC traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 609,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,793. Banco Santander-Chile has a 52-week low of $18.19 and a 52-week high of $25.53. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.58. 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 capitalization of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.67.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.06. Banco Santander-Chile had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The firm had revenue of $767.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $717.38 billion. Research analysts expect that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander-Chile Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were issued a $1.349 dividend. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander-Chile has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.