Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 46,000 Shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. $GGAL

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) by 68.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,479 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 46,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.08% of Grupo Financiero Galicia worth $6,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ping Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 450,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,316,000 after buying an additional 42,800 shares in the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 25,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 146.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 782,969 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,233,000 after buying an additional 465,639 shares in the last quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Aquamarine Financial Cayman Ltd now owns 2,092,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $113,133,000 after buying an additional 767,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,219,000.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Stock Down 1.0%

GGAL stock opened at $43.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.35 and a 200 day moving average of $48.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.27. 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 S.A. has a 52 week low of $25.89 and a 52 week high of $63.75.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The bank reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia had a net margin of 7.13% and a return on equity of 18.96%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.6229 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.2%. Grupo Financiero Galicia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 347.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GGAL. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.00.

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.