Bank of America Reaffirms "Underperform" Rating for BanColombia (NYSE:CIB)

Key Points

• BanColombia's stock received an "underperform" rating from Bank of America, with Zacks Research downgrading it from "strong-buy" to "hold".
• The company's average analyst rating is "Reduce" with a consensus price target of $43.75, despite a recent earnings report beating expectations.
• Significant increases in holdings by hedge funds, including a 796.3% rise in shares owned by Tower Research Capital LLC, indicate growing institutional interest in BanColombia.

BanColombia (NYSE:CIB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating restated by research analysts at Bank of America in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on CIB. Zacks Research cut shares of BanColombia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of BanColombia in a report on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $43.75.

BanColombia Stock Up 0.3%

CIB traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $51.95. 118,294 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,987. BanColombia has a 12-month low of $30.65 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.69 and a 200 day moving average of $43.91. The firm has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

BanColombia (NYSE:CIB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The bank reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.13. BanColombia had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.75 billion. Analysts predict that BanColombia will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BanColombia

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BanColombia by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,566,128 shares of the bank's stock worth $103,158,000 after purchasing an additional 56,475 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of BanColombia by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,133,425 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,353,000 after purchasing an additional 72,119 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of BanColombia by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 939,979 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,418,000 after purchasing an additional 173,734 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of BanColombia by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 863,718 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,895,000 after purchasing an additional 198,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of BanColombia by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 457,601 shares of the bank's stock worth $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 16,866 shares during the last quarter.

BanColombia Company Profile

Bancolombia SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services in Colombia and internationally. The company operates through nine segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment Banking, Brokerage, International Banking, and All Other.