Reviewing Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) and Northrim BanCorp (NASDAQ:NRIM)

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) and Northrim BanCorp (NASDAQ:NRIM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Grupo Financiero Galicia and Northrim BanCorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grupo Financiero Galicia	$10.56 billion	0.52	$170.02 million	$2.45	14.04
Northrim BanCorp	$255.58 million	2.10	$64.61 million	$2.47	9.77

Grupo Financiero Galicia has higher revenue and earnings than Northrim BanCorp. Northrim BanCorp 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.

Risk & Volatility

Grupo Financiero Galicia has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northrim BanCorp has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Grupo Financiero Galicia and Northrim BanCorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grupo Financiero Galicia	1	4	2	0	2.14
Northrim BanCorp	0	2	2	0	2.50

Grupo Financiero Galicia currently has a consensus target price of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 88.93%. Northrim BanCorp has a consensus target price of $29.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.23%. Given Grupo Financiero Galicia’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Grupo Financiero Galicia is more favorable than Northrim BanCorp.

Dividends

Grupo Financiero Galicia pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Northrim BanCorp pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Grupo Financiero Galicia pays out 23.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northrim BanCorp pays out 27.5% 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. Northrim BanCorp has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Northrim BanCorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

66.0% of Northrim BanCorp shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Northrim BanCorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Grupo Financiero Galicia and Northrim BanCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grupo Financiero Galicia	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northrim BanCorp	22.02%	16.25%	1.63%

Summary

Northrim BanCorp beats Grupo Financiero Galicia on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Grupo Financiero Galicia

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A., 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. In addition, the company offers financing products; consumer finance and digital banking services; electronic check; global custody services; Fima funds; financial and stock market services to individuals, companies, and financial institutions; foreign trade services; and capital market and investment banking products that include debt securities, short-term securities, and financial trusts. Further, it provides robbery, personal accident, life collective, home, life, integral, pet, surety, and technical insurance products. Additionally, the company offers private banking services to high net worth individuals; and operates digital investment platform. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. was founded in 1905 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

About Northrim BanCorp

Northrim BanCorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Northrim Bank that provides commercial banking products and services to businesses and professional individuals. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Home Mortgage Lending. The company offers noninterest-bearing checking accounts and interest-bearing time deposits, checking and savings accounts, individual retirement and money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and business sweep accounts. It also provides short and medium-term commercial loans, commercial credit lines, construction and real estate loans, and consumer loans, as well as short-term working capital. In addition, the company offers other services comprising consumer and business online banking, mobile app, and mobile deposits; and debit and credit cards. Further, it provides mobile web and app banking, consumer online account opening, personal finance, online documents, consumer debit cards, business debit cards, my rewards for consumer debit cards, retail lockbox, card control, corporate purchase cards, integrated payables, home equity advantage access cards, telebanking, and automated teller services. Additionally, the company offers personalized checks at account opening, overdraft protection from a savings account, commercial drive-up banking, automatic transfer and payment, People Pay, external transfer, Bill Pay, wire transfer, direct payroll deposit, electronic tax payment, Automated Clearing House origination and receipt, remote deposit capture, account reconciliation and positive pay, merchant, cash management, annuity, and long-term investment portfolio products and services. It also provides investment advisory, trust, wealth management, factoring, and mortgage services. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska.