Short Interest in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Increases By 9.8%

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,770,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the July 31st total of 7,990,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ally Financial from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ally Financial from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $39.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ally Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Ally Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $152,079,000. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,080,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $62,869,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Ally Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $52,252,000. Finally, Delta Global Management LP grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 3,262.3% during the 1st quarter. Delta Global Management LP now owns 1,035,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,182 shares in the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ally Financial Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ALLY traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.19. The stock had a trading volume of 3,637,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,228,790. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.59. Ally Financial has a 12 month low of $22.54 and a 12 month high of $45.46. The company has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.41.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.33. Ally Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. Ally Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ally Financial will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.98%.

Ally Financial Company Profile

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.