Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Ally Financial “Moderate Buy,” with 14 buy ratings, two holds and one strong-buy rating among 17 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $53.13, above the reported share price of $38.81.
• Ally’s latest quarterly results were mixed: earnings per share came in at $1.21, slightly below the $1.22 consensus, while revenue of $2.28 billion exceeded estimates and rose 9.8% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, or $1.20 annually, representing a reported 3.1% yield and a 28.3% payout ratio.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.13.

ALLY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ally Financial from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ally Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th.

Ally Financial Price Performance

ALLY opened at $38.81 on Friday. Ally Financial has a 1 year low of $35.92 and a 1 year high of $47.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.69.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.01). Ally Financial had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.30%.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In other Ally Financial news, insider Stephanie Richard sold 5,000 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total value of $221,150.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 88,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,933,241.21. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in Ally Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Ally Financial by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ally Financial by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company's stock.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc is a digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides consumer and commercial financial products, with a primary focus on automotive financing and digital banking.

Ally's automotive business offers retail installment sales contracts, consumer loans and leasing products through a network of automotive dealers. The company also provides dealer financing and related commercial lending services. Through Ally Bank, it offers deposit accounts, personal loans, mortgage products and other banking services, while Ally Invest provides self-directed investment and brokerage services to individuals.

The company serves customers primarily in the United States through digital platforms, dealer relationships and other distribution channels.

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