Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,702,105 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the March 15th total of 2,026,265 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,358,047 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBVA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays cut Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,288,196 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034,318 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,616,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,914,000 after purchasing an additional 40,320 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 5,755,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,788,000 after purchasing an additional 113,250 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,846,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,288,000 after acquiring an additional 297,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 1,819.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,616,734 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,306,000 after acquiring an additional 3,428,336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.96% of the company’s stock.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Trading Up 3.7%

BBVA traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.81. 1,023,553 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,022,677. The company has a market capitalization of $137.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.86. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a 52-week low of $13.24 and a 52-week high of $26.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.08.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 17.29%. The business had revenue of $11.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.74 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.7084 per share. This represents a yield of 626.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria’s payout ratio is 58.38%.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Company Profile

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) is a Spanish multinational financial services group headquartered in Bilbao, Spain. The bank traces its roots to several historic regional banks and was formed through a series of mergers that consolidated its position as one of Spain’s largest banking groups. BBVA operates as a universal bank offering a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional clients.

BBVA’s core businesses include retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, private banking and wealth management, asset management, and insurance.