Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Banco de Chile from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th.

Banco de Chile Stock Performance

Banco de Chile stock opened at $24.34 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.50 and its 200 day moving average is $22.84. 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 has a 52-week low of $19.20 and a 52-week high of $24.79.

Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. Banco de Chile had a net margin of 29.41% and a return on equity of 23.65%. The company had revenue of $824.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.94 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Banco de Chile will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BCH. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the third quarter worth about $2,328,000. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco de Chile in the fourth quarter worth about $194,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 17,086 shares of the bank’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,425 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 215.2% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 146,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,384,000 after purchasing an additional 100,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banco de Chile by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

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.