Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. (NYSE:AVAL) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 457,440 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 180% from the previous session’s volume of 163,324 shares.The stock last traded at $3.99 and had previously closed at $3.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AVAL. Citigroup downgraded shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.98. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.66.

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The bank reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.02. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 7.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAL. Plan A Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 15,811 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,868 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores by 33.0% during the third quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 15,587 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,871 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC grew its position in Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 87,317 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 4,198 shares during the last quarter. Sage Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sage Investment Counsel LLC now owns 34,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 21,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 8,594 shares during the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA is a leading Colombian financial holding company that offers a diversified range of banking and financial services across Latin America. As one of the largest financial conglomerates in Colombia, Grupo Aval provides commercial and retail banking, leasing, insurance brokerage, pension fund management and investment banking through its principal subsidiaries.

Its core banking operations are conducted through a network of well-established institutions, including Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular and Banco AV Villas, which together serve individual consumers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporate clients.