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

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) saw a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,410,000 shares, a growth of 12.0% from the September 15th total of 8,400,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 23,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $923,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ally Financial by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 7,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ALLY traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.78. 455,733 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,477,624. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.39. Ally Financial has a one year low of $22.54 and a one year high of $45.46.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 10.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ally Financial will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALLY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $49.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ally Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.63.

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.