Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.35

Key Points

• Ally Financial raised its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.35 per share, payable November 16 to shareholders of record November 2. The new dividend equals $1.40 annually and a 3.7% yield.
• The dividend appears well covered, with a 22.1% payout ratio and analysts expecting next-year earnings of $6.07 per share versus $1.20 in annual dividends.
• Ally reported quarterly earnings of $1.34 per share and revenue of $2.35 billion, slightly exceeding estimates. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $50 average price target.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Sunday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, November 16th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This is a 16.7% increase from Ally Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Ally Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years. Ally Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 22.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ally Financial to earn $6.07 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.8%.

Ally Financial Price Performance

NYSE:ALLY opened at $37.39 on Tuesday. Ally Financial has a 52 week low of $35.92 and a 52 week high of $47.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $40.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.69.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.75%. Ally Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 5.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALLY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ally Financial from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $43.00 price target (down from $55.00) on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ally Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.00.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc is a digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ALLY. The company primarily serves consumers, automotive dealers and businesses in the United States through online and branchless banking and financing platforms.

Ally's automotive finance business provides retail installment loans and leases to consumers and floorplan financing and other services to automotive dealers. Its consumer banking operations, conducted through Ally Bank, offer deposit products such as savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, along with consumer lending products.

The company also provides credit cards and commercial financing, and offers investment and brokerage services through Ally Invest.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.