Virtus Advisers LLC Acquires New Stake in BanColombia S.A. $CIB

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC acquired 39,520 shares of BanColombia S.A. for approximately $1,589,000, making it the fifth largest position in their portfolio.
• BanColombia S.A. reported $1.79 earnings per share for the recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.66.
• Analysts upgraded BanColombia's rating from "underperform" to "neutral," with a price target increase from $41.00 to $49.00.

Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in BanColombia S.A. (NYSE:CIB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 39,520 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,589,000. BanColombia comprises about 2.1% of Virtus Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in BanColombia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new stake in BanColombia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in BanColombia by 4,800.9% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the bank's stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,089 shares in the last quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BanColombia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, JBF Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in BanColombia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered BanColombia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded BanColombia from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of BanColombia in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BanColombia presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $43.75.

BanColombia Price Performance

BanColombia stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.40. The company had a trading volume of 250,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,774. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $46.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.16. BanColombia S.A. has a 1-year low of $30.65 and a 1-year high of $50.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.12 billion, a PE ratio of 7.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

BanColombia (NYSE:CIB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The bank reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.13. BanColombia had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BanColombia S.A. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BanColombia Profile

Bancolombia SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services in Colombia and internationally. The company operates through nine segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment Banking, Brokerage, International Banking, and All Other.