Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GGAL shares. Zacks Research cut Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grupo Financiero Galicia

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GGAL. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 2nd quarter worth $10,078,000. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 240.3% during the third quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 826,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,769,000 after buying an additional 583,403 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 215.8% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 119,514 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,294,000 after buying an additional 81,670 shares during the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC lifted its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 70.1% in the third quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 47,030 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 19,382 shares during the period. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia during the second quarter worth about $11,502,000.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Stock Performance

GGAL opened at $45.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.02 and a 200-day moving average of $45.79. Grupo Financiero Galicia has a 52-week low of $25.89 and a 52-week high of $66.24.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The bank reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that Grupo Financiero Galicia will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is a positive change from Grupo Financiero Galicia’s previous monthly dividend of $0.15. Grupo Financiero Galicia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.97%.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Company Profile

Grupo Financiero Galicia is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As one of the country’s largest private-sector financial institutions, the company provides a comprehensive suite of banking, insurance and investment products to individual, small-to-medium enterprise (SME) and corporate clients. Its operations span retail and commercial banking, asset management, leasing, factoring and pension fund administration.

The core banking segment offers deposit and lending services, credit and debit cards, payment solutions and digital banking platforms.