Analysts Set Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) Price Target at $65.50

Shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 research note on Thursday, February 19th.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Price Performance

NASDAQ:GGAL opened at $42.70 on Wednesday. Grupo Financiero Galicia has a fifty-two week low of $25.89 and a fifty-two week high of $66.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $47.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.48.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The bank reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $666.89 million during the quarter. Grupo Financiero Galicia had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 7.13%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Grupo Financiero Galicia will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. This is an increase from Grupo Financiero Galicia’s previous monthly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 30th. Grupo Financiero Galicia’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grupo Financiero Galicia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia during the 2nd quarter worth $10,078,000. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 240.3% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 826,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,769,000 after purchasing an additional 583,403 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 215.8% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 119,514 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,294,000 after purchasing an additional 81,670 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,502,000. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC boosted its holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 70.1% in the third quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 47,030 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 19,382 shares in the last quarter.

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.