Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $21.56 and last traded at $21.53, with a volume of 11800 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Bank of America cut Banco Santander-Chile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.33.

Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.05). Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 19.16%. Analysts expect that Banco Santander-Chile will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSAC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,089 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Banco Santander-Chile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 27.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 16,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Banco Santander-Chile in the 4th quarter valued at about $364,000. 6.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.