Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Increases Holdings in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Key Points

• Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in Ally Financial by 2.1%, owning approximately $94.46 million worth of shares, making it the fund's 17th largest position.
• Ally Financial reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.99, exceeding estimates by $0.21, with a revenue increase of 3.0% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, translating to a yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of almost 78%.

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,590,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 54,016 shares during the quarter. Ally Financial accounts for about 2.3% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 0.84% of Ally Financial worth $94,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 4,226,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $153,752,000 after acquiring an additional 192,295 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Ally Financial by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,202,179 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $151,320,000 after buying an additional 1,918,965 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Ally Financial by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,941,459 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $141,932,000 after buying an additional 863,052 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,458,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $124,535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,259,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $117,382,000 after purchasing an additional 35,625 shares during the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ally Financial Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ALLY traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.63. 234,527 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,940,507. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.52 and a 1 year high of $43.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Ally Financial's payout ratio is 77.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALLY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research raised Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ally Financial from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.80.

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.