Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Shares Gap Up to $36.27

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $36.27, but opened at $37.49. Ally Financial shares last traded at $38.97, with a volume of 1,024,861 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALLY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Compass Point lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James downgraded Ally Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Ally Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.59.

Ally Financial Trading Up 7.8 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.40.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 12.42%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 3.07%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ally Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALLY. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 115.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

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.