Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Barclays

Barclays cut shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.92. The stock had a trading volume of 252,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,139,109. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a 1 year low of $13.24 and a 1 year high of $26.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 17.29%. The company had revenue of $11.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.74 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.7084 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 626.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria’s payout ratio is 57.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 28.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,288,196 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034,318 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,616,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,914,000 after purchasing an additional 40,320 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 2.0% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 5,755,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,788,000 after purchasing an additional 113,250 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 6.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,846,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,288,000 after buying an additional 297,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 1,819.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,616,734 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,306,000 after buying an additional 3,428,336 shares during the last quarter. 2.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Company Profile

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.