Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $36.80 and last traded at $36.6880, with a volume of 1357 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCH. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco De Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Banco De Chile from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco De Chile in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Banco De Chile from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Banco De Chile from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Banco De Chile Trading Up 1.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.35. The stock has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.28.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.02). Banco De Chile had a return on equity of 23.25% and a net margin of 32.87%.The business had revenue of $675.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $831.97 million. On average, research analysts predict that Banco De Chile will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Banco De Chile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Banco De Chile during the 1st quarter worth $239,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. boosted its stake in Banco De Chile by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 23,645 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 6,455 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco De Chile in the first quarter valued at approximately $819,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Banco De Chile during the first quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Banco De Chile by 25.0% during the first quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 25,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco De Chile Company Profile

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.