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

Shares of BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.6667.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BBAR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BBVA Banco Frances to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded BBVA Banco Frances from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, HSBC upgraded BBVA Banco Frances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $21.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 199.9% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances during the 3rd quarter valued at $108,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the 3rd quarter valued at $109,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the 3rd quarter worth $136,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 42.7% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 26,071 shares of the bank’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 7,803 shares during the period.

BBVA Banco Frances Price Performance

Shares of BBVA Banco Frances stock opened at $18.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 1.08. BBVA Banco Frances has a 1-year low of $7.76 and a 1-year high of $23.90.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The bank reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $865.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $871.10 billion. BBVA Banco Frances had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 4.46%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.0331 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from BBVA Banco Frances’s previous monthly dividend of $0.03. BBVA Banco Frances’s payout ratio is 41.05%.

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.