Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 6,722,927 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 152% from the previous session’s volume of 2,669,179 shares.The stock last traded at $13.77 and had previously closed at $13.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BBVA. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.90 and its 200 day moving average is $10.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.77 billion, a PE ratio of 7.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.26.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 28.10%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,481,085 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,596,000 after acquiring an additional 163,044 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,418,877 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,424,880 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 5.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,370,344 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,055,000 after buying an additional 344,355 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,108,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,654,000 after buying an additional 613,563 shares during the period. Finally, Symmetry Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria during the fourth quarter worth about $27,647,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.96% of the company’s stock.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Company Profile

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.