Straightline Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Straightline Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000. Ally Financial accounts for about 0.4% of Straightline Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ally Financial by 89.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Ally Financial by 218.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Ally Financial by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In other news, CEO Michael George Rhodes purchased 25,634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $753,495.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 202,845 shares in the company, valued at $8,002,235.25. This represents a 10.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Price Performance

ALLY stock opened at $31.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.57 and a 200 day moving average of $36.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.06 and a 1 year high of $45.46.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ALLY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research cut shares of Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ally Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.82.

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.