BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Trading Down 4.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• BBVA Banco Frances's stock fell 4.7% to $9.14, with trading volume down 82% from its average.
• The bank reported a missed earnings expectation of $0.24 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $0.37, along with revenues falling short at $524.41 million.
• Several analysts have issued mixed ratings on BBVA Banco Frances, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $22.50.

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) dropped 4.7% on Friday after Citigroup downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $9.21 and last traded at $9.14. Approximately 144,926 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 794,991 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.59.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised BBVA Banco Frances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 7th. Itau BBA Securities initiated coverage on BBVA Banco Frances in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded BBVA Banco Frances from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BBAR. Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the second quarter valued at $29,399,000. PointState Capital LP increased its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 3,346,539 shares of the bank's stock worth $60,639,000 after purchasing an additional 888,235 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 695.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 523,438 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,977,000 after purchasing an additional 457,663 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC increased its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,852,539 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,568,000 after purchasing an additional 435,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in BBVA Banco Frances during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,168,000.

BBVA Banco Frances Trading Down 0.7%

The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $14.10 and a 200 day moving average of $17.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

BBVA Banco Frances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.0221 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. BBVA Banco Frances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.15%.

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.