Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Ally Financial reached a new 52-week high after Citigroup upgraded its price target from $59.00 to $70.00, currently maintaining a buy rating.
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.99 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $0.78, with a net margin of 7.64% and revenues of $2.08 billion.
• Ally Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 77.92%.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $70.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ally Financial traded as high as $43.04 and last traded at $42.85, with a volume of 259267 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.22.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Ally Financial from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $47.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research upgraded Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ally Financial from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Ally Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,797,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,855,000 after purchasing an additional 134,113 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Ally Financial in the first quarter valued at about $253,881,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Ally Financial by 39.3% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,400,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $210,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,425 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Ally Financial by 10.9% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,658,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $169,909,000 after purchasing an additional 456,698 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its position in Ally Financial by 0.8% in the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 4,258,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $155,317,000 after purchasing an additional 32,121 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ally Financial Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.62.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 7.64%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Ally Financial's payout ratio is presently 77.92%.

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.

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