Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) Rating Lowered to Hold at Barclays

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) was downgraded by research analysts at Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:BBVA traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.01. 278,262 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,140,282. The stock has a market cap of $138.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a twelve month low of $13.24 and a twelve month high of $26.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.05.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $11.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.74 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBVA. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 84.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,304 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.96% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) is a Spanish multinational financial services group headquartered in Bilbao, Spain. The bank traces its roots to several historic regional banks and was formed through a series of mergers that consolidated its position as one of Spain’s largest banking groups. BBVA operates as a universal bank offering a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional clients.

BBVA’s core businesses include retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, private banking and wealth management, asset management, and insurance.