Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. $GGAL

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) by 66.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,479 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia were worth $2,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 240.5% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,202 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 11.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,022 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 184.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,528 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 2,289 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia during the 2nd quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in Grupo Financiero Galicia during the 1st quarter worth $338,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research cut Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group started coverage on Grupo Financiero Galicia in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.40.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GGAL opened at $48.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.78. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a 52-week low of $25.89 and a 52-week high of $74.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73 and a beta of 1.58.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The bank reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.10). Grupo Financiero Galicia had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 22.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.1406 dividend. This is a boost from Grupo Financiero Galicia’s previous monthly dividend of $0.13. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Grupo Financiero Galicia’s dividend payout ratio is 88.42%.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Profile

Grupo Financiero Galicia SA, a financial service holding company, provides various financial products and services to individuals and companies in Argentina. The company operates through Banks, NaranjaX, Insurance, and Other Businesses segments. It also offers personal loans; express and mortgage loans; pledge and credit card loans; credit and debit cards; and online banking services, as well as savings, deposits, and checking accounts related services.