Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) Cut to “Hold” at Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

BBVA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research lowered Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Stock Performance

Shares of BBVA opened at $23.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $137.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.08. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a twelve month low of $13.24 and a twelve month high of $26.20.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $11.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.74 billion. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria had a net margin of 28.43% and a return on equity of 17.29%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.7084 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 626.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in the third quarter worth about $876,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,478,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,846,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,288,000 after buying an additional 297,752 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria by 612.4% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 515,444 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,922,000 after buying an additional 443,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC bought a new position in Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,286,000. Institutional investors own 2.96% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) is a Spanish multinational financial services group headquartered in Bilbao, Spain. The bank traces its roots to several historic regional banks and was formed through a series of mergers that consolidated its position as one of Spain’s largest banking groups. BBVA operates as a universal bank offering a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional clients.

BBVA’s core businesses include retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, private banking and wealth management, asset management, and insurance.