Ally Financial Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ALLY)

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 15,118 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 200% compared to the average volume of 5,031 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALLY has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ally Financial from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $39.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Ally Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Ally Financial from $44.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given 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 Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ALLY opened at $34.05 on Thursday. Ally Financial has a 1 year low of $22.54 and a 1 year high of $45.46. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $40.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.66.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ally Financial will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. 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

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALLY. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 245.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 608,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,687,000 after purchasing an additional 432,350 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,662,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,040,000 after buying an additional 261,897 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 3.8% during the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 880,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,933,000 after buying an additional 32,478 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Ally Financial by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 369,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,988,000 after acquiring an additional 49,539 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Ally Financial by 309.5% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 99,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 75,063 shares during the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.