BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BBAR. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BBVA Banco Frances from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.50.

BBVA Banco Frances Price Performance

BBAR stock opened at $14.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. BBVA Banco Frances has a 1 year low of $7.76 and a 1 year high of $22.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.78.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The bank reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $716.56 million for the quarter. BBVA Banco Frances had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 4.16%. On average, equities analysts predict that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BBVA Banco Frances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.0131 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. BBVA Banco Frances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBAR. PointState Capital LP raised its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 2,668,038 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005,978 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 3,633.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 613,832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,092,000 after acquiring an additional 597,392 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the 4th quarter worth about $4,042,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,021,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,274,000 after purchasing an additional 180,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP raised its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 2,847,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,446,000 after purchasing an additional 177,799 shares in the last quarter.

BBVA Banco Frances Company Profile

BBVA Banco Francés is one of Argentina’s leading financial institutions, operating as a subsidiary of the global banking group BBVA. The bank provides a full range of retail and commercial banking services to individuals, small and medium‐sized enterprises, large corporations and institutional clients. Its product suite spans deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and auto loans, credit and debit cards, transactional banking and digital solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of customers in both urban and regional markets.

Founded in Buenos Aires in the late 19th century, Banco Francés has developed a longstanding presence in Argentina’s financial sector.