Short Interest in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Increases By 15.1%

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,090,000 shares, a growth of 15.1% from the October 31st total of 7,900,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALLY. StockNews.com raised Ally Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Ally Financial from $46.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.80.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of Ally Financial stock traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $39.98. 1,866,550 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,028,884. Ally Financial has a 12-month low of $28.99 and a 12-month high of $45.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.62. The company has a market cap of $12.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 510.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ally Financial by 153.9% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 41.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ally Financial in the second quarter worth about $52,000. 88.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.