BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.6667.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Performance

NYSE:BBAR opened at $14.44 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.30. BBVA Banco Frances has a 1-year low of $7.76 and a 1-year high of $23.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 0.92.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.16). BBVA Banco Frances had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 6.55%. The firm had revenue of $337.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $874.92 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 20th were given a dividend of $0.0382 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. This is an increase from BBVA Banco Frances’s previous monthly dividend of $0.04. BBVA Banco Frances’s payout ratio is presently 54.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBAR. PointState Capital LP boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 2,668,038 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,978 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 597,392 shares in the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 1,141,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,623,000 after purchasing an additional 581,305 shares in the last quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,050,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,740,000 after purchasing an additional 304,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances during the 4th quarter worth $4,042,000.

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.