Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Short Interest Update

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,510,000 shares, an increase of 40.2% from the February 28th total of 8,210,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALLY. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ally Financial from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Ally Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ally Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.53.

Ally Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

ALLY traded up $0.18 on Friday, hitting $37.50. The company had a trading volume of 6,160,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,397,104. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.35. Ally Financial has a 12-month low of $31.95 and a 12-month high of $45.46.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Ally Financial had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. Ally Financial’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Analysts predict that Ally Financial will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ally Financial news, CEO Michael George Rhodes acquired 25,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.09 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,033.06. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $753,495.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 202,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,002,235.25. This trade represents a 10.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALLY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ally Financial by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,252,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,360,000 after acquiring an additional 111,231 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,704,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,981,000 after purchasing an additional 51,426 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,895,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,990,000 after purchasing an additional 184,278 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its position in Ally Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 4,226,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,752,000 after buying an additional 192,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ally Financial by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,202,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,320,000 after buying an additional 1,918,965 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.