BBVA Banco Frances S.A. $BBAR Shares Bought by PointState Capital LP

Key Points

• PointState Capital LP increased its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 36.1%, owning approximately 3.35 million shares worth $60.64 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds have significantly boosted their positions in BBVA Banco Frances, with Millennium Management increasing their stake by 695.8% in the last quarter.
• BBVA Banco Frances reported an earnings miss in its last quarterly results, with EPS at $0.24 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.37.

PointState Capital LP grew its position in BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR - Free Report) by 36.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,346,539 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 888,235 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP owned about 1.64% of BBVA Banco Frances worth $60,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BBAR. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,733,785 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,046,000 after purchasing an additional 836,688 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 695.8% during the fourth 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. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 96.1% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 292,907 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,307,000 after purchasing an additional 143,557 shares in the last quarter. Gemsstock Ltd. grew its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. Gemsstock Ltd. now owns 241,274 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,372,000 after acquiring an additional 92,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 2,203.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 96,090 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,741,000 after acquiring an additional 91,919 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BBAR shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research note on Thursday. Itau BBA Securities started coverage on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BBVA Banco Frances currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.50.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Performance

NYSE:BBAR traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $9.69. 666,623 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 796,810. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.66 and a 200 day moving average of $17.42. 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 S.A. has a 1-year low of $9.19 and a 1-year high of $25.01.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The bank reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $524.41 million for 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%. Research analysts anticipate that BBVA Banco Frances S.A. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.0221 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. BBVA Banco Frances's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.15%.

BBVA Banco Frances 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.