BTIG Research Downgrades Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) to Neutral

BTIG Research downgraded shares of Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ALLY. Citigroup initiated coverage on Ally Financial in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a buy rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ally Financial from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the company from $39.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ally Financial from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $41.41.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of ALLY opened at $34.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. Ally Financial has a 52-week low of $22.54 and a 52-week high of $45.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.63. 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 (NYSE:ALLY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Ally Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 8.37%. Ally Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ally Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ally Financial in the second quarter worth $702,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ally Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 311.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 2.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 60,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 597.3% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 131,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,204,000 after purchasing an additional 112,369 shares during the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.