Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Strong Earnings

Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 1,406,955 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the previous session’s volume of 3,935,096 shares.The stock last traded at $39.03 and had previously closed at $38.71.

The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 12.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is 40.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ALLY. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ally Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Ally Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Ally Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ally Financial from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALLY. Sessa Capital IM L.P. raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 426.5% during the 1st quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 9,493,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,979,000 after purchasing an additional 7,689,915 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Ally Financial by 195.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,058,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,137,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005,417 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ally Financial by 233.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,118,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884,833 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,080,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,869,000. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ally Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.65 and a 200 day moving average of $32.82.

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.