Macro Bank (NYSE:BMA) Stock Falls 11.2% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Macro Bank shares dropped 11.2% to about $58.64, with trading volume 74% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: UBS cut its price target to $90 but retained a Buy rating, while other firms issued downgrades. The overall consensus is still Moderate Buy, with a $101.25 price target.
• The bank exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.29 in EPS versus $1.86 expected and $1 billion in revenue versus a $946.46 million consensus estimate.

Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA - Get Free Report) shares fell 11.2% on Monday. The company traded as low as $58.01 and last traded at $58.6420. Approximately 79,487 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 306,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BMA. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Macro Bank from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Itau BBA Securities lowered Macro Bank from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Macro Bank from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Macro Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.25.

Macro Bank Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.37.

Macro Bank (NYSE:BMA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The bank reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.43. Macro Bank had a net margin of 5.95% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.46 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Macro Bank Inc. will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macro Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMA. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new position in Macro Bank in the 1st quarter worth $7,815,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Macro Bank by 53.3% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 273,122 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,280,000 after purchasing an additional 95,014 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Macro Bank by 104.2% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 107,005 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,279,000 after purchasing an additional 54,597 shares during the last quarter. Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Macro Bank during the first quarter valued at about $2,932,000. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Macro Bank during the second quarter valued at about $2,268,000.

Macro Bank Company Profile

Banco Macro SA is an Argentine financial institution headquartered in Buenos Aires and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BMA. The bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, corporate customers and public-sector entities throughout Argentina.

Its offerings include deposit accounts, personal and commercial loans, credit and debit cards, insurance, investment and cash-management products, foreign-exchange services and electronic banking.

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