Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Banco de Chile from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

Banco de Chile Stock Performance

Shares of BCH opened at $23.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.88. Banco de Chile has a twelve month low of $19.20 and a twelve month high of $24.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $824.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.94 million. Banco de Chile had a return on equity of 23.65% and a net margin of 29.41%. On average, equities analysts expect that Banco de Chile will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco de Chile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in Banco de Chile by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,722 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Banco de Chile by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,488 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Banco de Chile by 163.9% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 569.6% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Banco de Chile by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 26,918 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

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.