Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Short Interest Up 28.0% in February

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,690,000 shares, an increase of 28.0% from the January 31st total of 6,790,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ALLY. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.76.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Ally Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in Ally Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 26,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Ally Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:ALLY traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $34.98. 3,638,910 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,651,908. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Ally Financial has a twelve month low of $31.95 and a twelve month high of $45.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.08. The firm has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.15%.

Ally Financial Company Profile

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.