Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (BBVA) shares reached a new 12-month high of $19.42, reflecting strong trading volume and a recent market positive sentiment.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on BBVA, with Barclays upgrading to "overweight" while Wall Street Zen downgraded to "hold," indicating a divergence in market outlook.
• Institutional investors have increased their stakes significantly, with notable growth from Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and GAMMA Investing, illustrating growing confidence in the bank's performance.

Shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $19.42 and last traded at $19.26, with a volume of 122660 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria currently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.24 billion. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a return on equity of 17.61% and a net margin of 29.17%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BBVA. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,545 shares of the bank's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 5,735 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 1,922.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 219,759 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 208,893 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $196,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 251,085 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,420,000 after purchasing an additional 61,938 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in the 1st quarter worth $160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.96% of the company's stock.

About Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, SA provides retail banking, wholesale banking, and asset management services in the United States, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and internationally. The company offers savings account, demand deposits, and time deposits; and loan products, such as residential mortgages, other households, credit card loans, loans to enterprises and public sector, as well as consumer finance.

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