Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) Shares Up 4.3% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Grupo Financiero Galicia shares rose 4.3% to $44.06 in midday trading, although trading volume was 71% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has an overall “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $68.33, while JPMorgan raised its target to $85 and Weiss Ratings downgraded the shares to “Sell.”
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.14 in EPS versus a $0.98 estimate and $1.87 billion in revenue versus a $1.70 billion forecast. It also declared a monthly dividend of $0.0531, representing a 1.4% annualized yield.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $44.10 and last traded at $44.06. 333,896 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 1,143,210 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Grupo Financiero Galicia from $72.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Grupo Financiero Galicia from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.33.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Stock Performance

The business's 50 day moving average is $48.20 and its 200-day moving average is $46.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.36.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a $0.0531 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Grupo Financiero Galicia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.51%.

Insider Activity at Grupo Financiero Galicia

In other Grupo Financiero Galicia news, Director Silvestre Vila Moret acquired 224,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.36 per share, with a total value of $1,200,640.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,080,000. This trade represents a 8.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders bought 802,791 shares of company stock valued at $4,253,109 in the last 90 days.

Institutional Trading of Grupo Financiero Galicia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $490,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 11.9% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 149,789 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,997,000 after acquiring an additional 15,962 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 9.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,531 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,080,000 after acquiring an additional 3,729 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 4.8% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 165,572 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,734,000 after acquiring an additional 7,603 shares during the period. Finally, Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. increased its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 74.4% during the first quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 41,586 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,942,000 after acquiring an additional 17,746 shares during the period.

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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