Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week high: BLX traded as high as $54.58 (last $54.295) on Monday and carries a MarketBeat average rating of "Strong Buy" after Weiss Ratings upgraded it to buy (a-).
• Attractive fundamentals and income: market cap $2.02B, P/E 8.89, recent quarterly EPS $1.50 with ~4.6 projected FY EPS, and the bank raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6875 (annual $2.75) for a ~5.1% yield and a 45% payout ratio.

Shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (NYSE:BLX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $54.58 and last traded at $54.2950, with a volume of 3828 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Strong Buy".

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $50.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The bank reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $88.80 million for the quarter. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 14.85%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.6875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior's payout ratio is currently 45.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 7.5% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,746 shares of the bank's stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 12.0% in the third quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,988 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 4.8% in the third quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 122,864 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,163,826 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,907,000 after acquiring an additional 15,291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.47% of the company's stock.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior Company Profile

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior SA, commonly known as BLADEx and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BLX, is a multilateral financial institution dedicated to promoting foreign trade and regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Panama City, the bank provides specialized trade finance solutions to corporate clients and financial institutions, helping to facilitate cross-border transactions across key markets in the region. Its services encompass import and export financing, supply chain solutions, project and structured finance, as well as treasury and risk management products.

Established in 1977 by a consortium of 20 Latin American and Caribbean governments in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), BLADEx has a mandate to support economic development through trade facilitation.

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