Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA) received a consensus rating of "Hold" from five brokerages, with one sell, three hold, and one buy rating assigned to the stock.
• The bank reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' estimates, while revenue surpassed expectations at $834.78 million.
• Macro Bank recently announced a monthly dividend of $0.3658, reflecting a 9.3% annualized yield and a payout ratio of 38.48%.

Shares of Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.1667.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BMA shares. Itau BBA Securities started coverage on shares of Macro Bank in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Macro Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Macro Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th.

Macro Bank Price Performance

Shares of BMA traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.39. 277,352 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,024. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Macro Bank has a 52 week low of $42.17 and a 52 week high of $118.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.03 and a 200-day moving average of $75.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.80, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.69.

Macro Bank (NYSE:BMA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.04). Macro Bank had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 8.32%.The firm had revenue of $834.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $752.51 million. On average, analysts forecast that Macro Bank will post 7.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macro Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.3665 per share. This is a boost from Macro Bank's previous monthly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.1%. Macro Bank's payout ratio is currently 38.48%.

Institutional Trading of Macro Bank

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Macro Bank by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 539,074 shares of the bank's stock valued at $52,161,000 after buying an additional 247,070 shares during the last quarter. Sagil Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Macro Bank in the second quarter valued at about $10,094,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Macro Bank by 4,089.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 120,191 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,439,000 after acquiring an additional 117,322 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Macro Bank by 9,810.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 77,700 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,867,000 after purchasing an additional 76,916 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Macro Bank during the second quarter worth $5,020,000.

About Macro Bank

Banco Macro SA provides various banking products and services to retail and corporate customers in Argentina. It offers various retail banking products and services, such as savings and checking accounts, time deposits, credit and debit cards, consumer finance loans, mortgage loans, automobile loans, overdrafts, credit-related services, home and car insurance coverage, tax collection, utility payments, automated teller machines, and money transfers.