BBVA Banco Frances S.A. $BBAR Shares Sold by Chesapeake Asset Management LLC

Chesapeake Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,900 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 33,950 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BBVA Banco Frances were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BBVA Banco Frances during the first quarter worth about $637,000. PointState Capital LP raised its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 36.1% in the first quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 3,346,539 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,639,000 after acquiring an additional 888,235 shares in the last quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BBVA Banco Frances in the second quarter worth approximately $419,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in BBVA Banco Frances by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,841,384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,366,000 after acquiring an additional 107,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of BBVA Banco Frances in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,399,000.

BBVA Banco Frances Stock Performance

Shares of BBAR stock opened at $18.42 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.07. BBVA Banco Frances S.A. has a 1 year low of $7.76 and a 1 year high of $25.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.07.

BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE:BBAR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The bank reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $512.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $871.10 billion. BBVA Banco Frances had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Analysts predict that BBVA Banco Frances S.A. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BBVA Banco Frances Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.0331 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from BBVA Banco Frances’s previous monthly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. BBVA Banco Frances’s payout ratio is 41.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BBAR shares. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of BBVA Banco Frances from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup raised BBVA Banco Frances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research raised BBVA Banco Frances from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group began coverage on BBVA Banco Frances in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HSBC raised BBVA Banco Frances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $21.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BBVA Banco Frances has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.67.

BBVA Banco Frances 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.