Macro Bank (NYSE:BMA) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Macro Bank Inc. (NYSE:BMA) gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Itau BBA Securities upgraded the stock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $57.48, but opened at $79.87. Macro Bank shares last traded at $78.81, with a volume of 1,332,376 shares.

Several other research firms have also commented on BMA. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Macro Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup cut Macro Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Macro Bank from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. HSBC raised Macro Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Macro Bank in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Macro Bank presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.13.

Institutional Trading of Macro Bank

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BMA. Sagil Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of Macro Bank in the second quarter worth about $10,094,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Macro Bank by 4,089.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 120,191 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,439,000 after buying an additional 117,322 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Macro Bank in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,020,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Macro Bank by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 107,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,084,000 after buying an additional 50,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gemsstock Ltd. grew its position in shares of Macro Bank by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Gemsstock Ltd. now owns 206,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,610,000 after buying an additional 48,100 shares during the last quarter.

Macro Bank Trading Up 38.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Macro Bank (NYSE:BMA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $834.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $752.51 million. Macro Bank had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 10.99%. On average, research analysts forecast that Macro Bank Inc. will post 7.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macro Bank Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $0.3051 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Macro Bank’s payout ratio is presently 89.05%.

Macro Bank Company Profile

Banco Macro SA provides various banking products and services to retail and corporate customers in Argentina. It offers various retail banking products and services, such as savings and checking accounts, time deposits, credit and debit cards, consumer finance loans, mortgage loans, automobile loans, overdrafts, credit-related services, home and car insurance coverage, tax collection, utility payments, automated teller machines, and money transfers.