BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Hits New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• BBVA Banco Frances shares hit a new 52-week low at $8.80 during trading, closing at $8.91 after a volume of 165,557 shares exchanged hands.
• Analysts have recently downgraded the stock, with Zacks Research changing its rating to "strong sell," while the consensus rating remains at "Hold" with an average target price of $22.50.
• The bank's earnings fell short of expectations, reporting $0.24 per share compared to the estimated $0.37, and its revenue of $524.41 million significantly missed analyst estimates.

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $8.80 and last traded at $8.91, with a volume of 165557 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BBAR. Zacks Research lowered BBVA Banco Frances from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup lowered BBVA Banco Frances from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BBVA Banco Frances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.50.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Down 1.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $13.68 and a 200 day moving average of $16.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

BBVA Banco Frances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a $0.0335 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. BBVA Banco Frances's payout ratio is presently 20.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBAR. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 199.9% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 27.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,303 shares of the bank's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in BBVA Banco Frances in the first quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in BBVA Banco Frances in the first quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 123.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,301 shares of the bank's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares during the period.

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.