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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALLY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Ally Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.76.

Ally Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Ally Financial stock opened at $34.98 on Friday. Ally Financial has a 52-week low of $31.95 and a 52-week high of $45.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.06. The stock has a market capitalization 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. 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 (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ally Financial

In other news, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson bought 19,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael George Rhodes bought 25,634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,033.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,033.06. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 153.9% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 218.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Ally Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $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.