Barclays Upgrades Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) to Overweight

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has been upgraded to "overweight" by Barclays, a shift from an "equal weight" rating, indicating increased investor confidence.
• Wall Street Zen downgraded BBVA from a "buy" to a "hold", contributing to a mixed sentiment among analysts, with an average rating of "Buy" overall.
• The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and generating a revenue of $10.30 billion.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Separately, 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.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Stock Performance

NYSE BBVA traded up $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $18.61. 772,630 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,359,403. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a 52 week low of $9.23 and a 52 week high of $18.68. The company has a market capitalization of $108.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.12. The business's fifty day moving average is $15.51 and its 200 day moving average is $14.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a net margin of 29.17% and a return on equity of 17.61%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.24 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,481,085 shares of the bank's stock valued at $111,596,000 after acquiring an additional 163,044 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,941,273 shares of the bank's stock valued at $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,305 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,418,877 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,424,880 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 5,578,381 shares of the bank's stock valued at $75,978,000 after acquiring an additional 347,564 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,108,410 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,654,000 after acquiring an additional 613,563 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.96% of the company's stock.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Company Profile

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.