Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 156,117 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. $ALLY

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp dramatically increased its stake in Ally Financial during the first quarter, buying an additional 156,117 shares and boosting its holdings by 6,419.3% to 158,549 shares worth about $6.22 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with 14 analysts rating Ally Financial a Buy and consensus price target at $53.79; several firms recently raised targets, including Wells Fargo to $55 and Barclays to $56.
• Ally Financial’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $1.11 EPS on $2.18 billion in revenue, while the stock recently traded near its 12-month high at $46.73.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 6,419.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,549 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 156,117 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.05% of Ally Financial worth $6,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Ally Financial by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ALLY shares. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ally Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Ally Financial from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ally Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.79.

Ally Financial Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE ALLY opened at $46.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.64. Ally Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.92 and a 12-month high of $47.29.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.14 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 16.47%.The firm's revenue was up 36.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ally Financial Inc. will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ally Financial news, insider Stephanie N. Richard sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.14, for a total value of $210,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,958,083.78. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Ally Financial Profile

Ally Financial Inc is a leading digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company offers a comprehensive suite of banking, lending, and insurance products designed for retail and commercial customers. Through its online-only platform, Ally Bank provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and home mortgages, emphasizing competitive rates and user-friendly mobile and web experiences.

In addition to its banking operations, Ally Financial is a major player in automotive financing and leasing.

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