Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Raises Stock Position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Free Report) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,752,830 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 495,584 shares during the quarter. Ally Financial comprises approximately 2.5% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned 0.91% of Ally Financial worth $96,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Ally Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 339,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,873,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 62,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,169,000 after acquiring an additional 17,985 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth $244,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter worth $78,000. 88.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ally Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Ally Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $37.00 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.47.

Ally Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

ALLY stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $39.16. 2,702,493 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,959,875. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.54 and a 1-year high of $41.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.63.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 10.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.98%.

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.