Allstate Corp Acquires 11,335 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. $ALLY

Key Points

• Allstate Corp increased its stake in Ally Financial Inc. by 143.1% during the first quarter, now owning 19,255 shares valued at approximately $702,000.
• Ally Financial recently reported earnings of $0.99 per share, exceeding analyst estimates and showing a 3.0% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.9%.

Allstate Corp lifted its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 143.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,335 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp's holdings in Ally Financial were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Copia Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Ally Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Ally Financial by 125.7% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 914 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ally Financial by 59.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,010 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Ally Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Ally Financial by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ALLY shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ally Financial from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $47.00 target price (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.80.

Ally Financial Stock Up 0.1%

ALLY stock traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $41.10. 2,721,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,588,038. Ally Financial Inc. has a one year low of $29.52 and a one year high of $43.22. 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 company has a market cap of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.36.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.