Baird Financial Group Inc. Makes New $717,000 Investment in Ally Financial Inc. $ALLY

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired 19,647 shares of Ally Financial Inc., valued at approximately $717,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Ally Financial's shares saw an upgrade by BTIG Research from "sell" to "neutral," and several analysts have set a new target price of up to $59.00 following positive earnings reports.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.9% with a payout ratio of 77.92%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the first quarter valued at $253,881,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Ally Financial by 6,226.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,368,654 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,020 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Ally Financial by 105.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,316,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,404,000 after purchasing an additional 674,464 shares during the period. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the first quarter valued at $22,651,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Ally Financial by 431.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 557,399 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,329,000 after purchasing an additional 452,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.76% of the company's stock.

Ally Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ALLY traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $42.22. 3,082,273 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,352,482. The firm's 50-day moving average is $39.54 and its 200 day moving average is $36.62. The company has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.14. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.52 and a 1-year high of $42.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.03 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 7.64%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALLY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ally Financial from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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 reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.67.

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.