Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ALLY. TheStreet raised Ally Financial from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Raymond James cut Ally Financial from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ally Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ally Financial from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ally Financial from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $35.50.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALLY opened at $40.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.25 and a 200-day moving average of $31.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Ally Financial has a 12 month low of $22.54 and a 12 month high of $41.56.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ally Financial will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sessa Capital IM L.P. grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 426.5% in the 1st quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 9,493,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,979,000 after buying an additional 7,689,915 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 195.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,058,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,137,000 after buying an additional 4,005,417 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 233.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,118,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,160,000 after buying an additional 2,884,833 shares during the last quarter. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,080,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,869,000. Institutional investors 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.