Reviewing Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) and Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México (NYSE:BSMX)

Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México (NYSE:BSMX – Get Rating) and Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México and Grupo Financiero Galicia, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México	1	1	0	0	1.50
Grupo Financiero Galicia	0	1	1	0	2.50

Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México currently has a consensus price target of $6.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.25%. Grupo Financiero Galicia has a consensus price target of $21.30, indicating a potential upside of 104.02%. Given Grupo Financiero Galicia’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Grupo Financiero Galicia is more favorable than Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México.

Profitability

This table compares Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México and Grupo Financiero Galicia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México	16.83%	16.42%	1.47%
Grupo Financiero Galicia	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grupo Financiero Galicia has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.9% of Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.9% of Grupo Financiero Galicia shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México and Grupo Financiero Galicia’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México	$7.65 billion	1.14	$1.20 billion	$0.96	6.67
Grupo Financiero Galicia	$5.11 billion	N/A	$326.49 million	$1.49	7.01

Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México has higher revenue and earnings than Grupo Financiero Galicia. Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Grupo Financiero Galicia, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México pays an annual dividend of $0.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. Grupo Financiero Galicia pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México pays out 57.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Grupo Financiero Galicia pays out 25.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Summary

Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México beats Grupo Financiero Galicia on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Banco Santander México, S.A., Institución de Banca Múltiple, Grupo Financiero Santander México

(Get Rating)

Banco Santander Mexico SA Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico engages in the provision of banking and financial solutions. It operates through the following segments: Retail Banking, Global Corporate and Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities. The Retail Banking segment provides a range of services to individuals, private banking, small and medium enterprises, middle-market corporations, and government institutions. The Global Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers global transaction banking, financial solutions and advisory, and corporate finance to Mexican and multinational corporations, financial groups, and large institutional clients. The firm products include mortgages, credit cards, payroll loans, loans, and other. The company was founded on November 16, 1932 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

About Grupo Financiero Galicia

(Get Rating)

Grupo Financiero Galicia SA is a holding company, which engages in banking, insurance, and the issuance of certificates of deposit through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Banks, Ecosistema Naranja X, Insurance, Other Businesses, and Adjustments. The Banks segment includes the banking business operation results. The Ecosistema Naranja X segment represents the brand credit cards, consumer finance, and digital banking services business. The Insurance segment consists of insurance firms business and Sudamericana Holding SA. The Other Businesses segment refers to equity investments. The Adjustments segment relates to consolidation adjustments and eliminations of transactions among subsidiaries. The company was founded on September 14, 1999 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.