BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

BBAR has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of BBVA Banco Frances from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 54,175.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. XP Advisory US Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 78.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,973 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 19,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 39,830 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 8,280 shares during the period.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE BBAR opened at $14.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. BBVA Banco Frances has a 12 month low of $7.76 and a 12 month high of $22.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.78.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $716.56 million for the quarter. BBVA Banco Frances had a net margin of 4.16% and a return on equity of 7.80%. As a group, analysts forecast that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BBVA Banco Frances Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.0131 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. BBVA Banco Frances’s payout ratio is currently 102.44%.

About BBVA Banco Frances

BBVA Banco Francés is one of Argentina’s leading financial institutions, operating as a subsidiary of the global banking group BBVA. The bank provides a full range of retail and commercial banking services to individuals, small and medium‐sized enterprises, large corporations and institutional clients. Its product suite spans deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and auto loans, credit and debit cards, transactional banking and digital solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of customers in both urban and regional markets.

Founded in Buenos Aires in the late 19th century, Banco Francés has developed a longstanding presence in Argentina’s financial sector.