Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) Stock Rating Lowered by UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS downgraded Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from "buy" to "neutral" and several other brokers have cut ratings recently, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Hold (one Buy, five Holds).
• BBVA reported Q earnings of $0.50 (in line) and revenue of $11.49 billion (above estimates), with strong profitability (ROE 17.29%, net margin 28.43%), while the stock trades around $23.81 with a P/E of 12.09.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Monday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BBVA. Barclays downgraded Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:BBVA opened at $23.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $137.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.86. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a 1 year low of $13.24 and a 1 year high of $26.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.12.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a return on equity of 17.29% and a net margin of 28.43%.The company had revenue of $11.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.74 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in the 3rd quarter valued at $876,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,478,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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. Archford Capital Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,286,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 612.4% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 515,444 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,922,000 after acquiring an additional 443,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.96% of the company's stock.

About Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

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.

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