Traders Purchase Large Volume of Ally Financial Put Options (NYSE:ALLY)

Key Points

• Traders have recently purchased 4,966 put options for Ally Financial (NYSE: ALLY), marking a 57% increase in volume compared to the typical daily activity.
• Ally Financial's stock price has decreased by $0.91 to $41.06, with 2,162,531 shares traded compared to its average volume of 3,789,827.
• The company reported $0.99 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 3.0% year-over-year revenue increase.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 4,966 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 57% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,157 put options.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

ALLY stock traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.06. 2,162,531 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,789,827. Ally Financial has a 52-week low of $29.52 and a 52-week high of $44.83. The stock has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock's 50-day moving average is $40.06 and its 200 day moving average is $37.04.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given 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 is presently 77.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ALLY shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $47.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Thursday, July 10th. BTIG Research raised shares of Ally Financial from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ally Financial from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ally Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,797,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,855,000 after purchasing an additional 134,113 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the first quarter worth $253,881,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 39.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,400,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $210,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,425 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 10.9% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,658,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $169,909,000 after acquiring an additional 456,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 4,258,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,317,000 after acquiring an additional 32,121 shares during the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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