Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BBVA. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria stock opened at $23.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a 12-month low of $11.59 and a 12-month high of $26.20. The company has a market cap of $135.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.15.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.74 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBVA. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 28.0% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,288,196 shares of the bank’s stock worth $142,760,000 after acquiring an additional 2,034,318 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,616,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,914,000 after buying an additional 40,320 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 5,755,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,788,000 after buying an additional 113,250 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,846,150 shares of the bank’s stock worth $93,288,000 after buying an additional 297,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 17.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,375,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,247,000 after purchasing an additional 637,519 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.