Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the four ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya 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 purchasing an additional 163,044 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya 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 purchasing an additional 1,014,305 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya 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 purchasing an additional 2,424,880 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya 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 purchasing an additional 347,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya 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 purchasing an additional 613,563 shares during the last quarter. 2.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:BBVA traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $15.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,138,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,787,575. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $87.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.87. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has a 1-year low of $9.23 and a 1-year high of $15.06.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $10.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria had a net margin of 28.10% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Equities research analysts expect that Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.4439 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.11. This represents a yield of 4.3%. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's dividend payout ratio is 39.15%.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya 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.