Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) reached 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. The stock had previously closed at $36.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BCH. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banco De Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Banco De Chile from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Banco De Chile from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Banco De Chile in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

Banco De Chile Stock Up 0.4%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.28.

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.02). Banco De Chile had a net margin of 32.87% and a return on equity of 23.25%. The firm had revenue of $675.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $831.97 million. Equities analysts expect 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 and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TT International Asset Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of Banco De Chile during the third quarter valued at about $26,962,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 16.4% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 467,468 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,220,000 after buying an additional 65,708 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Banco De Chile by 104.6% during the first quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 437,338 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,054,000 after buying an additional 223,565 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banco De Chile by 53.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 216,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after buying an additional 75,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Banco De Chile by 128.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 197,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,021,000 after acquiring an additional 111,253 shares during the period. 1.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.