StockNews.com Upgrades Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) to “Strong-Buy”

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA – Get Rating) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on BBVA. Societe Generale lowered Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. AlphaValue raised Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.36.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Stock Down 6.1 %

Shares of BBVA opened at $6.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has a one year low of $3.93 and a one year high of $7.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.89.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 26.53%. Equities research analysts forecast that Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BBVA. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,411 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 300.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,173 shares of the bank’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 61,633 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 1,088,846 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,845,000 after acquiring an additional 321,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. lifted its stake in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 62,286 shares of the bank’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 12,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA engages in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking, and wholesale banking. It operates through the following segments: Spain, the United States, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and Rest of Eurasia. The Spain segment includes mainly the banking and insurance business that the group carries out in Spain.