Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus: Hold — Eight analysts give Grupo Financiero Galicia a consensus "Hold" rating (2 sell, 2 hold, 3 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $65.50, and several recent downgrades even as JPMorgan keeps an "overweight" stance with a lowered $72 target.
• Trading and results — Shares opened at $47.90 (12‑month range $25.89–$66.24), market cap ~$7.06B and P/E 24.19; the bank reported Q (loss) EPS of ($0.36), revenue of $666.9M, ROE 18.96% and net margin 7.13%.
• Dividend boost but high payout — The firm raised its monthly dividend to $0.16 (paid April 6), implying about a 4.0% yield, though the dividend payout ratio is very high at 96.97%.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research cut Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GGAL opened at $47.90 on Friday. Grupo Financiero Galicia has a twelve month low of $25.89 and a twelve month high of $66.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.78. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Grupo Financiero Galicia Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Grupo Financiero Galicia's previous monthly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Grupo Financiero Galicia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grupo Financiero Galicia

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,116,925 shares of the bank's stock worth $114,188,000 after purchasing an additional 380,643 shares during the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd raised its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 2,092,309 shares of the bank's stock worth $113,133,000 after acquiring an additional 767,309 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 52.2% in the second 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 in the last quarter. PointState Capital LP raised its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 170.6% in the fourth quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 1,592,990 shares of the bank's stock worth $85,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Advisors US LLC raised its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 848.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter.

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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