RWC Asset Advisors US LLC Sells 113,675 Shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. $GGAL

Key Points

• RWC Asset Advisors cut its Grupo Financiero Galicia stake by 22%, selling 113,675 shares in the third quarter and retaining 403,865 shares valued at approximately $15.0 million.
• GGAL shares traded at $37.91, near the lower end of their 52-week range, while the company’s latest earnings exceeded expectations with $1.14 in EPS and $1.87 billion in revenue.
• Grupo Financiero Galicia reduced its monthly dividend to $0.0479 per share, representing a 1.5% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with a $65 average price target.

RWC Asset Advisors US LLC lowered its stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Free Report) by 22.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 403,865 shares of the bank's stock after selling 113,675 shares during the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia makes up 4.0% of RWC Asset Advisors US LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC owned about 0.25% of Grupo Financiero Galicia worth $15,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Leonteq Securities AG boosted its stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 563.2% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,036 shares of the bank's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $490,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $560,000. Finally, Deltec Asset Management LLC grew its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 25,900 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Price Performance

GGAL traded up $1.79 on Friday, reaching $37.91. 995,527 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,008,335. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.39. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a 52-week low of $34.57 and a 52-week high of $62.51. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.29.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 5th. Investors of record on Monday, September 28th were given a dividend of $0.0479 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 28th. This is a negative change from Grupo Financiero Galicia's previous monthly dividend of $0.0531. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Grupo Financiero Galicia's payout ratio is 23.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Grupo Financiero Galicia from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities lowered Grupo Financiero Galicia from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.00.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Profile

Grupo Financiero Galicia SA is an Argentine financial services holding company whose principal business is conducted through Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SAU., commonly known as Galicia. The group serves individuals, businesses, agricultural customers and public-sector entities across Argentina.

Through its banking operations, Galicia offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, credit and debit cards, payment services, cash management, foreign trade financing, investment products and digital banking services.

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