Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from UBS Group

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) had its target price lowered by UBS Group from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Evercore set a $40.00 target price on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Ally Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $55.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, October 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $45.00 price target on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.93.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALLY opened at $39.36 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.17. Ally Financial has a 1-year low of $35.92 and a 1-year high of $47.29.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ally Financial had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Ally Financial’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Ally Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathleen Patterson sold 12,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.65, for a total value of $495,918.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 67,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,619,735.65. This trade represents a 15.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Ally Financial during the second quarter valued at about $1,315,659,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the second quarter worth about $1,240,650,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the second quarter worth about $172,509,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the second quarter worth about $105,379,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $103,930,000. 88.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc is a digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ALLY. The company primarily serves consumers, automotive dealers and businesses in the United States through online and branchless banking and financing platforms.

Ally’s automotive finance business provides retail installment loans and leases to consumers and floorplan financing and other services to automotive dealers. Its consumer banking operations, conducted through Ally Bank, offer deposit products such as savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, along with consumer lending products.

The company also provides credit cards and commercial financing, and offers investment and brokerage services through Ally Invest.