StockNews.com Downgrades Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) to Sell

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Banco Santander-Chile Price Performance

Shares of Banco Santander-Chile stock opened at $18.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.92. Banco Santander-Chile has a 12 month low of $16.89 and a 12 month high of $21.81.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 9.99%. The business had revenue of $621.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $609.98 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 1,552.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,267,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,284,000 after purchasing an additional 5,888,617 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 970.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,813,883 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,425 shares during the period. INCA Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 1,781,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,233,000 after purchasing an additional 595,421 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,782,526 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,983,000 after purchasing an additional 527,872 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,991,000. 6.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.