BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• BBVA Banco Frances experienced unusually high trading volume, with approximately 770,829 shares traded, a 5% decrease from the previous session.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with Citigroup downgrading it to "hold," while Zacks Research has rated it a "strong sell"; the average rating is currently "Hold" with a consensus target price of $22.50.
• The bank announced a monthly dividend of $0.0335 per share, representing a 3.9% yield, which will be paid to shareholders on September 26th.

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 770,829 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the previous session's volume of 815,653 shares.The stock last traded at $10.06 and had previously closed at $9.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut BBVA Banco Frances from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut BBVA Banco Frances from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.50.

BBVA Banco Frances Price Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $13.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The bank reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $524.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.31 billion. BBVA Banco Frances had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 10.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BBVA Banco Frances S.A. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.0335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. BBVA Banco Frances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 123.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,301 shares of the bank's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 8,450 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 514,724 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,810,000 after acquiring an additional 29,319 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 229.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 60,156 shares of the bank's stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 41,920 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 9.8% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,021,521 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,274,000 after purchasing an additional 180,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the second quarter valued at $3,168,000.

About BBVA Banco Frances

Banco BBVA Argentina SA provides various banking products and services to individuals and companies in Argentina. The company provides retail banking products and services, such as checking and savings accounts, time deposits, credit cards financing, consumer and pledge loans, mortgages, insurance, and investment products to individuals; and small and medium-sized companies products and services, including financing products, factoring, checking accounts, time deposits, transactional and payroll services, insurance, and investment products to private-sector companies.

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