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

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BBVA Banco Frances

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd lifted its stake in BBVA Banco Frances by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 1,141,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,623,000 after acquiring an additional 581,305 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 2,847,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,446,000 after acquiring an additional 177,799 shares during the last quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the fourth quarter worth approximately $507,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,042,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its holdings in shares of BBVA Banco Frances by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 19,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE BBAR traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,491,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,932. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.11 and its 200-day moving average is $17.03. BBVA Banco Frances has a 52 week low of $7.76 and a 52 week high of $22.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 1.02.

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

BBVA Banco Frances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a dividend of $0.0131 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. BBVA Banco Frances’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.44%.

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.