Wall Street Zen Upgrades BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) to "Buy"

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Itau BBA Securities began coverage on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock.

BBVA Banco Frances Trading Down 2.1%

BBAR stock opened at $16.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. BBVA Banco Frances has a 12-month low of $7.05 and a 12-month high of $25.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 1.26. The business's 50-day moving average is $19.84 and its 200 day moving average is $19.60.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $751.69 billion. BBVA Banco Frances had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 8.31%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BBVA Banco Frances

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 27.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,303 shares of the bank's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 16,521 shares of the bank's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 15,318 shares of the bank's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 4,574 shares during the period. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC raised its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 42.0% in the first quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 30,417 shares of the bank's stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the period.

About BBVA Banco Frances

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.