Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL)

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 3,003 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 63% compared to the average daily volume of 1,842 call options.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Price Performance

Shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia stock traded down $1.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,467,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,103,001. Grupo Financiero Galicia has a 52 week low of $32.02 and a 52 week high of $62.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.69.

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Grupo Financiero Galicia will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 5th. Investors of record on Monday, September 28th were issued a $0.0479 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 28th. This is a drop from Grupo Financiero Galicia’s previous monthly dividend of $0.0531. This represents a $0.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Grupo Financiero Galicia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGAL has been the topic of several research reports. Itau BBA Securities cut Grupo Financiero Galicia from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grupo Financiero Galicia

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGAL. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,052,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,235,000. RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in Grupo Financiero Galicia by 4.3% during the third quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 890,348 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,157,000 after acquiring an additional 36,903 shares during the period. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 517,540 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,893,000 after buying an additional 177,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moerus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Grupo Financiero Galicia during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,179,000.

Grupo Financiero Galicia Company Profile

Grupo Financiero Galicia SA is an Argentine financial services holding company whose principal business is conducted through Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SAU., commonly known as Galicia. The group serves individuals, businesses, agricultural customers and public-sector entities across Argentina.

Through its banking operations, Galicia offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, credit and debit cards, payment services, cash management, foreign trade financing, investment products and digital banking services.