Allstate Corp Acquires Shares of 7,920 Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ally Financial by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 218.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Ally Financial by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In other Ally Financial news, CEO Michael George Rhodes acquired 25,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,033.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson bought 19,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $753,495.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 202,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,002,235.25. The trade was a 10.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALLY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Ally Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.65.

Ally Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ALLY opened at $37.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.95 and a 1-year high of $45.46. The stock has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.43.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 11.29%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Ally Financial’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.15%.

Ally Financial 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.