Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised Ally Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Ally Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.47.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALLY opened at $40.12 on Thursday. Ally Financial has a 12-month low of $31.95 and a 12-month high of $45.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.92 and a 200 day moving average of $37.93.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 10.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2,021,808.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Ally Financial’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 48.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 153.9% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Ally Financial by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Ally Financial by 218.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 311.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Ally Financial during the third quarter valued at $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc, a digital financial-services company, provides various digital financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. The company operates through Automotive Finance Operations, Insurance Operations, Mortgage Finance Operations, and Corporate Finance Operations segments.