BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Shares of BBVA Banco Francés carry an average analyst recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from seven analysts (3 Hold, 2 Buy, 2 Strong Buy) with a 12‑month average price target of $17.67.
• Institutional investors significantly increased exposure: PointState raised its stake 60.5% to 2.67M shares (~$48.2M), Millennium Management added ~597K shares (now 613,832), Aquamarine more than doubled to 1.14M shares, and Alpine opened a new ~$4.0M position.
• The bank missed quarterly EPS expectations (reported $0.18 vs. $0.34 consensus) with revenue of $337.36M, and declared a monthly dividend of $0.0382 per share payable April 27 (record April 20), implying roughly a 2.8% yield.

Shares of BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.6667.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BBAR. PointState Capital LP boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 2,668,038 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,978 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 3,633.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 613,832 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,092,000 after purchasing an additional 597,392 shares in the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 1,141,305 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,623,000 after purchasing an additional 581,305 shares in the last quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,050,500 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,740,000 after purchasing an additional 304,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances during the 4th quarter worth about $4,042,000.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Performance

Shares of BBAR opened at $16.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $15.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.58. BBVA Banco Frances has a 12 month low of $7.76 and a 12 month high of $23.10.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The bank reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $337.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $874.92 billion. BBVA Banco Frances had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 6.55%. As a group, analysts predict that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th will be given a dividend of $0.0382 per share. This is a boost from BBVA Banco Frances's previous monthly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. BBVA Banco Frances's payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

BBVA Banco Frances Company Profile

BBVA Banco Francés is one of Argentina's leading financial institutions, operating as a subsidiary of the global banking group BBVA. The bank provides a full range of retail and commercial banking services to individuals, small and medium‐sized enterprises, large corporations and institutional clients. Its product suite spans deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and auto loans, credit and debit cards, transactional banking and digital solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of customers in both urban and regional markets.

Founded in Buenos Aires in the late 19th century, Banco Francés has developed a longstanding presence in Argentina's financial sector.

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