Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,870,000 shares, a decline of 6.4% from the September 15th total of 6,270,000 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBVA. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 172.8% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,096,738 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,553 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,103,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,371,000 after purchasing an additional 619,836 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,412,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,253,000 after purchasing an additional 396,829 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,890,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,957,000 after purchasing an additional 368,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 266.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 406,418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,076,000 after acquiring an additional 295,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.96% of the company’s stock.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria stock traded down $0.18 on Thursday, hitting $9.88. 890,331 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,477,004. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.54. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has a 12-month low of $7.76 and a 12-month high of $12.20. The company has a market cap of $57.68 billion, a PE ratio of 6.85, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The bank reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria had a net margin of 27.55% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The business had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.3244 per share. This is a boost from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.11. This represents a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria’s payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BBVA shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.