Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $33.33 and last traded at $33.35, with a volume of 2694 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BCH. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco De Chile in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banco De Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Banco De Chile from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Banco De Chile Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $801.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $820.11 million. Banco De Chile had a return on equity of 23.00% and a net margin of 32.62%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco De Chile will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco De Chile

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Banco De Chile by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 216,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after purchasing an additional 75,924 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Banco De Chile by 104.6% in the 1st quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 437,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,054,000 after purchasing an additional 223,565 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Banco De Chile by 289.5% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 86,678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after purchasing an additional 64,425 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC acquired a new stake in Banco De Chile in the 2nd quarter valued at about $383,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Banco De Chile in the 1st quarter valued at about $245,000. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Banco De Chile

Banco de Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking services to customers in Chile. The company offers checking and debit accounts, debit and credit cards, and lines of credit; mortgage, consume, commercial, general purpose mortgage loans, and finance leases; and factoring services, mutual fund management, stock brokerage, foreign trade, payments and collections, insurance brokerage, including life and general insurance, as well as time deposits, savings instruments, and foreign currency services through branches under the Banco de Chile and Banco Edwards brands.