BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $14.33 and traded as high as $18.02. BBVA Banco Frances shares last traded at $17.73, with a volume of 642,249 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BBAR. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded BBVA Banco Frances from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, HSBC raised BBVA Banco Frances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $21.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BBVA Banco Frances presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.67.

BBVA Banco Frances Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.92 and a 200 day moving average of $14.33. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick 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). BBVA Banco Frances had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $865.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $871.10 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that BBVA Banco Frances S.A. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of BBVA Banco Frances

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 199.9% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,381 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in BBVA Banco Frances during the third quarter worth about $108,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in BBVA Banco Frances in the third quarter worth about $109,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 123.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,301 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances during the third quarter valued at approximately $136,000.

BBVA Banco Frances Company Profile

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.