Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Short Interest Up 40.2% in March

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,510,000 shares, an increase of 40.2% from the February 28th total of 8,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ALLY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ally Financial from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BTIG Research lowered shares of Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael George Rhodes purchased 25,634 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,033.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $753,495.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 202,845 shares in the company, valued at $8,002,235.25. This represents a 10.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,252,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,360,000 after acquiring an additional 111,231 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,704,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,981,000 after purchasing an additional 51,426 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ally Financial by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,895,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,990,000 after purchasing an additional 184,278 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 4,226,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,752,000 after buying an additional 192,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,202,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,320,000 after buying an additional 1,918,965 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALLY traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.51. 5,317,697 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,404,773. Ally Financial has a twelve month low of $31.95 and a twelve month high of $45.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.38.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is 46.15%.

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.