Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 261,427 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the previous session’s volume of 285,985 shares.The stock last traded at $18.83 and had previously closed at $18.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BSAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.50.

Banco Santander-Chile Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSAC. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,164,490 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,859,000 after buying an additional 33,291 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 0.8% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,826,769 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,228,000 after buying an additional 23,000 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 76.4% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 861,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,036,000 after buying an additional 372,936 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 60.5% during the second quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 796,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,999,000 after buying an additional 300,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 6.5% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 402,781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,584,000 after buying an additional 24,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.42% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Santander-Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services.