Ally Financial Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ALLY)

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 7,874 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 100% compared to the average volume of 3,936 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ALLY shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $70.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ally Financial from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.73.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALLY traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $42.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,013,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,433,225. The company has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.71. Ally Financial has a 1 year low of $35.92 and a 1 year high of $47.29.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 16.75%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ally Financial will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ally Financial news, insider Stephanie Richard sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total transaction of $221,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 88,927 shares in the company, valued at $3,933,241.21. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Ally Financial by 30.8% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 3.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 3,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc is a digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides consumer and commercial financial products, with a primary focus on automotive financing and digital banking.

Ally’s automotive business offers retail installment sales contracts, consumer loans and leasing products through a network of automotive dealers. The company also provides dealer financing and related commercial lending services. Through Ally Bank, it offers deposit accounts, personal loans, mortgage products and other banking services, while Ally Invest provides self-directed investment and brokerage services to individuals.

The company serves customers primarily in the United States through digital platforms, dealer relationships and other distribution channels.