Banco BBVA Argentina S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Banco BBVA Argentina S.A. (NYSE:BBAR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,250,000 shares, an increase of 51.0% from the February 29th total of 1,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 997,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco BBVA Argentina

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Banco BBVA Argentina by 318.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Banco BBVA Argentina during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Banco BBVA Argentina during the first quarter worth about $43,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Banco BBVA Argentina by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 14,624 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 6,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Banco BBVA Argentina by 53,648.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,737 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 17,704 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Banco BBVA Argentina from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th.

Banco BBVA Argentina Stock Performance

BBAR traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.48. 949,357 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,292,077. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Banco BBVA Argentina has a 1 year low of $3.74 and a 1 year high of $8.94.

Banco BBVA Argentina (NYSE:BBAR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.50. Banco BBVA Argentina had a net margin of 4.55% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $2.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $592.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Banco BBVA Argentina will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Banco BBVA Argentina Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, January 1st were given a dividend of $0.1131 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Banco BBVA Argentina’s previous — dividend of $0.06. Banco BBVA Argentina’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.55%.

Banco BBVA Argentina Company Profile

Banco BBVA Argentina SA provides various banking products and services to individuals and companies in Argentina. It provides retail banking products and services, such as checking and savings accounts, time deposits, credit cards, consumer and pledge loans, mortgages, insurance, and investment products to individuals; and small and medium-sized companies products and services, including financing products, factoring, checking accounts, time deposits, transactional and payroll services, insurance, and investment products to private-sector companies.