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

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

Separately, HSBC cut Banco de Chile from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco de Chile currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Banco de Chile Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BCH opened at $21.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The company has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 0.40. Banco de Chile has a 52-week low of $19.20 and a 52-week high of $24.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.00.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $987.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $872.49 million. Banco de Chile had a net margin of 28.62% and a return on equity of 25.45%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Banco de Chile will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco de Chile Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were issued a $1.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. Banco de Chile’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.00%.

Institutional Trading of Banco de Chile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Banco de Chile by 99.6% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 163.9% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Banco de Chile by 335.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,918 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 737.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,375 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Banco de Chile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. 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.