Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.07.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ALLY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $56.00 target price on Ally Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Barclays cut their price target on Ally Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (down from $55.00) on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 21st.

Insider Activity at Ally Financial

In other Ally Financial news, insider Stephanie Richard sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total transaction of $221,150.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen Patterson sold 12,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.65, for a total transaction of $495,918.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 67,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,735.65. This represents a 15.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALLY. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ally Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $1,315,659,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the second quarter valued at about $1,240,650,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ally Financial by 3.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,018,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,776,000 after purchasing an additional 309,638 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Ally Financial by 11.7% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,783,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,134,000 after purchasing an additional 712,443 shares during the period. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Ally Financial during the second quarter worth about $172,509,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of ALLY opened at $38.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.03 and a 200-day moving average of $42.02. Ally Financial has a one year low of $35.92 and a one year high of $47.29.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Ally Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd.

Ally Financial Company Profile

Ally Financial Inc is a digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ALLY. The company primarily serves consumers, automotive dealers and businesses in the United States through online and branchless banking and financing platforms.

Ally’s automotive finance business provides retail installment loans and leases to consumers and floorplan financing and other services to automotive dealers. Its consumer banking operations, conducted through Ally Bank, offer deposit products such as savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, along with consumer lending products.

The company also provides credit cards and commercial financing, and offers investment and brokerage services through Ally Invest.