BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BBAR. UBS Group upped their price target on BBVA Banco Frances from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised BBVA Banco Frances from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.50.

BBVA Banco Frances Price Performance

BBAR stock opened at $14.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.10. BBVA Banco Frances has a 1 year low of $7.76 and a 1 year high of $22.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.68 and a 200 day moving average of $16.69. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.93.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. BBVA Banco Frances had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 4.16%.The business had revenue of $716.56 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBAR. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 66.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 9,764 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 93,265 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 13,594 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in BBVA Banco Frances by 171.8% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,455 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,921,000 after purchasing an additional 112,161 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,021,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,274,000 after purchasing an additional 180,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 229.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 60,156 shares of the bank’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 41,920 shares during 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.