Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Short Interest Update

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,400,000 shares, a drop of 6.4% from the August 31st total of 8,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALLY. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ally Financial from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ally Financial from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Ally Financial in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $49.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.38.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Ally Financial stock opened at $34.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. Ally Financial has a fifty-two week low of $22.54 and a fifty-two week high of $45.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.51. The company has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.33. Ally Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 1.2% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 23,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 17,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 7,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 10.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 39.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.