JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Price Target to $21.00

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, HSBC cut shares of Banco de Chile from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.00.

Banco de Chile Stock Performance

Banco de Chile stock opened at $22.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.99. Banco de Chile has a 1-year low of $19.20 and a 1-year high of $24.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 0.40.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.15. Banco de Chile had a net margin of 28.62% and a return on equity of 25.45%. The business had revenue of $987.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $872.49 million. On average, analysts expect that Banco de Chile will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Banco de Chile Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were issued a $1.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. Banco de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco de Chile

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 26,203 shares of the bank’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 8,265 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Banco de Chile during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,328,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in Banco de Chile during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $940,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Banco de Chile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $194,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Banco de Chile by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 90,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 3,910 shares in the last quarter. 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.