Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Strong Earnings

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 1,406,955 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the previous session's volume of 3,935,096 shares.The stock last traded at $39.03 and had previously closed at $38.71.

The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. Ally Financial had a net margin of 12.42% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Ally Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALLY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James cut shares of Ally Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.47.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,009,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $747,293,000 after purchasing an additional 290,842 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 426.5% in the first quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 9,493,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $241,979,000 after purchasing an additional 7,689,915 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ally Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,749,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $380,424,000 after buying an additional 281,795 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Ally Financial by 18.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,343,564 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $212,677,000 after buying an additional 1,281,000 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Ally Financial by 195.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,058,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $148,137,000 after buying an additional 4,005,417 shares during the period. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ally Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.82. The company has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.40.

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.