Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the four analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company.

BBVA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Kepler Capital Markets raised Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Trading of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBVA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,866 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 37.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 393,458 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 106,869 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 47,217 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 21.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 377,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,092,000 after purchasing an additional 65,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria during the fourth quarter worth $124,000. 2.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Stock Down 2.9 %

BBVA opened at $13.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.02. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has a fifty-two week low of $9.23 and a fifty-two week high of $14.84.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria had a net margin of 28.10% and a return on equity of 17.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.4439 dividend. This is an increase from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a yield of 4.3%. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria’s payout ratio is presently 28.18%.

About Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, SA provides retail banking, wholesale banking, and asset management services in the United States, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and internationally. The company offers savings account, demand deposits, and time deposits; and loan products, such as residential mortgages, other households, credit card loans, loans to enterprises and public sector, as well as consumer finance.