Insider Buying: Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) Director Buys $511,000.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Silvestre Vila Moret bought 100,000 shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia at $5.11 each, a $511,000 purchase that increased his holdings by 4% to 2.6 million shares.
• Vila Moret has been actively adding to his position, with several additional purchases in late June and early July, including a 167,791-share buy and a 125,000-share buy.
• The company’s latest earnings missed analyst expectations, with Q1 EPS of $0.29 versus $0.36 expected and revenue of $1.55 billion versus $1.70 billion projected; analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) Director Silvestre Vila Moret bought 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.11 per share, for a total transaction of $511,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,600,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,286,000. The trade was a 4.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Silvestre Vila Moret also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 7th, Silvestre Vila Moret purchased 176 shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.46 per share, with a total value of $960.96.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Silvestre Vila Moret purchased 167,791 shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.27 per share, with a total value of $884,258.57.
• On Monday, June 29th, Silvestre Vila Moret acquired 10,000 shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.25 per share, for a total transaction of $52,500.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Silvestre Vila Moret acquired 125,000 shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.15 per share, for a total transaction of $643,750.00.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Stock Performance

Shares of GGAL traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $49.39. 617,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,129,484. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $48.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.50. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.34. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a twelve month low of $25.89 and a twelve month high of $62.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The bank reported $0.29 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 analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.6229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.1%. Grupo Financiero Galicia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 214.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grupo Financiero Galicia

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 4,942.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,118 shares of the bank's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its position in shares of 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. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GGAL. Zacks Research upgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Grupo Financiero Galicia from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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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