BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR)’s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $14.23 and traded as high as $18.50. BBVA Banco Frances shares last traded at $18.28, with a volume of 112,681 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBAR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BBVA Banco Frances to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research report on Monday. HSBC upgraded BBVA Banco Frances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research upgraded BBVA Banco Frances from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised BBVA Banco Frances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BBVA Banco Frances currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.67.

BBVA Banco Frances Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.07.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The bank reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $512.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $871.10 billion. BBVA Banco Frances had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 4.46%. Equities research analysts forecast that BBVA Banco Frances S.A. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BBVA Banco Frances Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were given a $0.0331 dividend. This is an increase from BBVA Banco Frances’s previous monthly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. BBVA Banco Frances’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 199.9% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances during the 3rd quarter valued at about $109,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in BBVA Banco Frances during the third quarter worth approximately $136,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 42.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 26,071 shares of the bank’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 7,803 shares in the last quarter.

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.