Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

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. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other Ally Financial news, CEO Michael George Rhodes purchased 25,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were bought 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 owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,033.06. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 202,845 shares in the company, valued at $8,002,235.25. The trade was 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $378,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth $3,830,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ally Financial by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 77,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,778,000 after buying an additional 39,493 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $318,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 35,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ALLY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.76.

Ally Financial Price Performance

ALLY stock traded down $0.53 during trading on Thursday, hitting $34.98. 3,638,910 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,651,908. The stock has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. Ally Financial has a one year low of $31.95 and a one year high of $45.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.08.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Ally Financial’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

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