BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) Short Interest Down 40.4% in July

BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,059,497 shares, a decline of 40.4% from the July 15th total of 1,778,693 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 450,863 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBAR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BBVA Banco Frances in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on BBVA Banco Frances from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

BBVA Banco Frances Price Performance

NYSE BBAR opened at $15.36 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.11. BBVA Banco Frances has a 52 week low of $7.76 and a 52 week high of $22.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 15th. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $822.07 million during the quarter. BBVA Banco Frances had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 6.27%. Analysts forecast that BBVA Banco Frances will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.0131 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. BBVA Banco Frances’s payout ratio is currently 102.44%.

Institutional Trading of BBVA Banco Frances

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd boosted its position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 103.8% in the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 1,141,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,623,000 after purchasing an additional 581,305 shares during the period. Channing Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BBVA Banco Frances during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $507,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP increased its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 2,847,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,446,000 after buying an additional 177,799 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in BBVA Banco Frances in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,042,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BBVA Banco Frances in the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000.

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.