BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup has reaffirmed a neutral rating for BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) amidst mixed analyst opinions, with one rating it "strong sell" and others positioning it as "hold" or "buy".
• The stock currently trades at approximately $9.81, significantly below its 52-week high of $25.01, and has experienced a 6.0% increase recently.
• BBVA Banco Frances reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.24 for the last quarter, falling short of analyst estimates of $0.37, and predicts EPS of 1.94 for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup lowered shares of BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research cut BBVA Banco Frances from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Itau BBA Securities initiated coverage on BBVA Banco Frances in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BBVA Banco Frances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BBVA Banco Frances currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.50.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Performance

Shares of BBAR traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $8.89. 363,341 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 797,315. BBVA Banco Frances has a 12 month low of $8.68 and a 12 month high of $25.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50-day moving average price is $14.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.20. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The bank reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.13). BBVA Banco Frances had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 6.65%.The firm had revenue of $524.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.31 billion. Equities analysts predict that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.0221 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. BBVA Banco Frances's payout ratio is presently 20.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 199.9% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,303 shares of the bank's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in BBVA Banco Frances during the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in BBVA Banco Frances during the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 123.3% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter.

BBVA Banco Frances Company Profile

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.