Moerus Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. $GGAL

Key Points

• Moerus Capital Management disclosed a new stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia, buying 175,098 shares valued at about $8.18 million. The position represents roughly 3% of Moerus’s portfolio and 0.11% of the bank’s outstanding shares.
• Insiders have been buying shares, including Director Silvestre Vila Moret, who purchased 224,000 shares for about $1.2 million. In the last three months, insiders collectively bought 802,791 shares worth $4.25 million.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on GGAL despite a recent earnings miss, with the company reporting $0.29 EPS versus $0.36 expected and revenue below estimates. The stock currently has a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $68.33.

Moerus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 175,098 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $8,179,000. Grupo Financiero Galicia makes up about 3.0% of Moerus Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Moerus Capital Management LLC owned 0.11% of Grupo Financiero Galicia at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 4,942.9% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,118 shares of the bank's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the fourth quarter worth about $74,000. Leonteq Securities AG boosted its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 563.2% during the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,036 shares of the bank's stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia during the second quarter worth about $151,000.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Silvestre Vila Moret purchased 224,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.36 per share, for a total transaction of $1,200,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,080,000. This represents a 8.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 802,791 shares of company stock worth $4,253,109.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Trading Down 5.8%

Shares of GGAL stock opened at $50.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a twelve month low of $25.89 and a twelve month high of $62.51. The company's 50-day moving average price is $49.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.29. The stock has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.34.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The bank reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GGAL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Grupo Financiero Galicia from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.33.

About Grupo Financiero Galicia

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.

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