Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in First BanCorp. or Banco Santander-Chile because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile

First BanCorp. operates as the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico that provides financial products and services to consumers and commercial customers. It operates through six segments: Mortgage Banking; Consumer (Retail) Banking; Commercial and Corporate Banking; Treasury and Investments; United States Operations; and Virgin Islands Operations. The Mortgage Banking segment engages in the origination, sale, and servicing of various residential mortgage loans; hedging activities; purchase of mortgage loans from branch and mortgage bankers; and origination of residential real estate loans. The Consumer (Retail) Banking segment is involved in consumer lending, commercial lending to small businesses, commercial transaction banking, and deposit-taking activities. The Commercial and Corporate Banking segment offers lending and other services, including commercial lending and commercial deposit-taking activities. The Treasury and Investments segment manages funding; and obtains funds through brokered deposits, advances from the FHLB, and repurchase agreements involving investment securities, among other funding sources. The United States Operations segment provides checking, savings, and money market accounts; retail CDs; internet banking services; residential mortgages; home equity loans and lines of credit; retail deposits; cash management services; remote data capture; automated clearing house transactions; and traditional commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate products, such as lines of credit, term loans, and construction loans. The Virgin Islands Operations segment focuses on consumer and commercial lending, and deposit-taking activities. The company also offers automobile financing and insurance agency services. First BanCorp. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking products and services in Chile. It operates through Retail, Wealth Management & Insurance, Middle-Market, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities and Other segments. The company provides checking accounts and savings products; debit and credit cards; consumer, auto, 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. It offers mutual fund management, insurance and securities brokerage, foreign exchange services, financial leasing, financial consulting and advisory, investment management, foreign trade, leasing, factoring, treasury, and transactional services, as well as specialized services to finance residential projects. In addition, the company offers short-term financing and funding, and brokerage services, as well as derivatives, securitization, and other products; and manages capital allocations. Further, it provides health, life, travel, automobile, and unemployment insurance products; personal and corporate protection products; guarantees; international investment accounts, structured funds, and alternative investment funds; and wealth management and open architecture, asset management, and private banking services. It serves individuals, small to middle-sized companies, and other companies, as well as universities, government agencies, municipalities, regional governments, and construction and real estate companies. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Banco Santander-Chile is a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A.

Latest Banks and First BanCorp., Banco Santander-Chile Stock News

As of September 11, 2026, First BanCorp. had a $4.2 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $756.4 million. First BanCorp.’s stock is up 33.6% in 2026, down 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 26.32% in the past year.

Currently, First BanCorp.’s price-earnings ratio is 11.7. First BanCorp.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $954.2 million with a 39.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.397 per share for the current fiscal year. First BanCorp. currently has a 2.9% dividend yield.

As of September 11, 2026, Banco Santander-Chile had a $16.5 billion market cap, putting it in the 84th percentile of all stocks. Banco Santander-Chile’s stock is up 13.1% in 2026, down 1.9% in the previous five trading days and up 36.18% in the past year.

Currently, Banco Santander-Chile does not have a price-earnings ratio. Banco Santander-Chile’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.6 billion with a 47.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 21.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.885 per share for the current fiscal year. Banco Santander-Chile currently has a 4.2% dividend yield.

How We Compare First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
First BanCorp.	FBP	B
Banco Santander-Chile	BSAC	na

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

First BanCorp. has a Value Score of 66, which is Value. Banco Santander-Chile does not have a meaningful Value Score.

The Value Stock Winner: Undetermined

If you are strictly a value investor, you may want to add First BanCorp. to your watch list. However, because only one of the companies in this comparison has a valid Value Grade, we cannot name it a clear winner. Evaluation of the other grades for both companies is necessary in order to understand which stock is the better investment based on AAII’s proprietary scores and analysis.

First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
First BanCorp.	FBP	D
Banco Santander-Chile	BSAC	F

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

First BanCorp. has a Quality Score of 37, which is Weak. Banco Santander-Chile has a Quality Score of 7, which is Very Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither First BanCorp. or Banco Santander-Chile has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if First BanCorp. or Banco Santander-Chile is the better investment when it comes to quality.

First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
First BanCorp.	FBP	B
Banco Santander-Chile	BSAC	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

First BanCorp. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 64, which is Positive. Banco Santander-Chile has a Earnings Estimate Score of 64, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, both First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile have a grade of B. For those focusing solely on a company’s estimate revisions, other financial metrics will need to be evaluated to determine whether First BanCorp. or Banco Santander-Chile is a better fit.

Other First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, First BanCorp. or Banco Santander-Chile Stock?

Overall, First BanCorp. stock has a Value Score of 66, Estimate Revisions Score of 64 and Quality Score of 37.

Banco Santander-Chile stock has a Value Score of , Estimate Revisions Score of 64 and Quality Score of 7.

Comparing First BanCorp. and Banco Santander-Chile’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.