Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $45.43, but opened at $42.24. Grupo Financiero Galicia shares last traded at $43.8640, with a volume of 319,545 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on GGAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Grupo Financiero Galicia from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Grupo Financiero Galicia in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research cut Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.54. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 1.48.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The bank reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter. Analysts expect that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.1541 dividend. This is a boost from Grupo Financiero Galicia’s previous monthly dividend of $0.15. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Grupo Financiero Galicia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grupo Financiero Galicia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 131.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 938 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 240.5% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,202 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the fourth quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the third quarter worth $110,000.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Company Profile

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.