Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. $GGAL

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management purchased a new stake of 43,295 shares in Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) during Q4, valued at approximately $2.335 million.
• Grupo Financiero Galicia raised its monthly dividend to $0.16 (from $0.15), with an ex-dividend/record date on March 30 and an annualized yield of about 4.1% while the payout ratio stands near 97%.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Hold" with a $65.50 average price target, and the company reported -$0.36 EPS for the most recent quarter.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,295 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,335,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GGAL. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,824 shares of the bank's stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 54,525 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,748,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 0.4% during the second quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 110,167 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,549,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 131.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 938 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 1.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 65,810 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGAL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 Grupo Financiero Galicia from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a report on Friday. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.50.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Trading Up 8.6%

Shares of GGAL stock opened at $46.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59 and a beta of 1.48. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a 12-month low of $25.89 and a 12-month high of $66.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $47.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.27.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The bank reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $666.89 million for the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 18.96%. As a group, research analysts predict that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from Grupo Financiero Galicia's previous monthly dividend of $0.15. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 30th. Grupo Financiero Galicia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.97%.

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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