BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in BBVA Banco Frances has decreased by 36.0%, down to 1,210,000 shares as of August 31st, indicating a decline in bearish sentiment surrounding the stock.
• The bank reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.24, missing analysts' expectations of $0.37, and had a revenue of $524.41 million compared to expected $727.31 million.
• BBVA Banco Frances declared a monthly dividend of $0.0221 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.9%, with a low dividend payout ratio of 20.15%.

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,210,000 shares, a decline of 36.0% from the August 15th total of 1,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 789,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company's shares are sold short. Currently, 0.6% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 789,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBAR. Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new position in BBVA Banco Frances during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,399,000. PointState Capital LP increased its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 36.1% in the first quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 3,346,539 shares of the bank's stock valued at $60,639,000 after purchasing an additional 888,235 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 695.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 523,438 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,977,000 after purchasing an additional 457,663 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC increased its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 30.8% in the first quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,852,539 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,568,000 after purchasing an additional 435,692 shares during the period. Finally, OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in BBVA Banco Frances during the second quarter valued at $3,168,000.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBAR traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $8.07. The stock had a trading volume of 685,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,171. The business's fifty day moving average is $13.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.30. BBVA Banco Frances has a twelve month low of $7.98 and a twelve month high of $25.01.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $524.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $727.31 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.0335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. BBVA Banco Frances's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BBAR. Zacks Research cut shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup cut shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BBVA Banco Frances currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.50.

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.