Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Buys 41,825 Shares of Banco De Chile $BCH

Key Points

• Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its stake in Banco de Chile by 440.3% in Q4, buying 41,825 shares to hold 51,325 shares valued at about $1.95 million.
• Analysts are mixed: MarketBeat's consensus rating is Reduce with a $40.00 consensus price target, while individual reports range from UBS's $48 neutral to Goldman Sachs' sell with a $36 target.
• Banco de Chile reported quarter EPS of $0.57 (missing estimates) and revenue well below expectations, trades around $36.66 with a market cap near $18.5B, and recently paid a special dividend of $2.1877 per share.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its stake in shares of Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Free Report) by 440.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,325 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 41,825 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s holdings in Banco De Chile were worth $1,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Banco De Chile by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,396 shares of the bank's stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Banco De Chile by 5.5% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 10,443 shares of the bank's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco De Chile by 3.8% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 24,515 shares of the bank's stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco De Chile by 161.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in Banco De Chile by 8.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 14,995 shares of the bank's stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BCH shares. Zacks Research upgraded Banco De Chile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group set a $48.00 price objective on Banco De Chile and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Banco De Chile in a research report on Monday, April 20th. 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 research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Banco De Chile Trading Down 2.9%

BCH stock opened at $36.66 on Thursday. Banco De Chile has a 1-year low of $27.08 and a 1-year high of $46.77. The firm has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.22. The business's 50 day moving average is $38.96 and its 200-day moving average is $38.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $321.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $869.80 million. Banco De Chile had a return on equity of 23.94% and a net margin of 33.09%. Equities analysts anticipate that Banco De Chile will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco De Chile Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were issued 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 presently 59.14%.

Banco De Chile Company 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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