Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Ally Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Ally Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Ally Financial from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Ally Financial Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE ALLY opened at $36.68 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.06 and its 200 day moving average is $42.71. Ally Financial has a 52 week low of $35.92 and a 52 week high of $47.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.11.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.01). Ally Financial had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 5.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is presently 28.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Stephanie Richard sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total value of $221,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 88,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,933,241.21. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the second quarter valued at $17,613,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Ally Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,195,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 183.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 274,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,625,000 after purchasing an additional 177,832 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ally Financial by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,889,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,360,000 after purchasing an additional 190,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ally Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,886,000. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ally Financial Company Profile

Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY) is a digital financial-services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Its principal businesses include automotive financing, consumer banking, commercial finance and other lending services, primarily serving customers and businesses in the United States.

Through Ally Auto, the company provides retail installment loans and leases for new and used vehicles, along with financing and related services for automotive dealers. Ally Bank offers online checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and other deposit products.