Ping Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. $GGAL

Key Points

• Ping Capital Management increased its stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 10.5% in Q4 to 450,800 shares, making GGAL its second-largest holding (~7% of the fund) worth about $24.3 million (≈0.31% of the company).
• Other institutions also boosted exposure—Aquamarine Financial (+57.9% to 2.09M shares), RWC Asset Advisors (+848.1% to 1.54M shares) and TT International opened a new ~ $47M position—indicating rising institutional interest.
• Dividend raised to $0.1639 monthly (from $0.16), payable May 11 with ex-dividend May 4, implying a ~4.9% yield and a high payout ratio of about 96.97%.

Ping Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 450,800 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 42,800 shares during the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia accounts for about 7.0% of Ping Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ping Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Grupo Financiero Galicia worth $24,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 2,092,309 shares of the bank's stock worth $113,133,000 after buying an additional 767,309 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,937,465 shares of the bank's stock worth $97,629,000 after acquiring an additional 664,533 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 848.1% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 1,540,187 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,735 shares during the last quarter. INCA Investments LLC grew its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 1.0% in the third quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 1,080,161 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,769,000 after acquiring an additional 10,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TT International Asset Management LTD purchased a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia in the fourth quarter worth $47,035,000.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GGAL opened at $40.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average is $45.25 and its 200 day moving average is $48.58. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a 52 week low of $25.89 and a 52 week high of $65.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The bank reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 7.13%.The business had revenue of $666.89 million during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $0.1639 dividend. This is a boost from Grupo Financiero Galicia's previous monthly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Grupo Financiero Galicia's dividend payout ratio is presently 96.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GGAL. Zacks Research downgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Grupo Financiero Galicia from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.50.

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.

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