Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,690,000 shares, a growth of 28.0% from the January 31st total of 6,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ALLY. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ally Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.76.

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Ally Financial Stock Performance

NYSE ALLY traded down $0.33 on Friday, hitting $34.68. 4,762,899 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,688,333. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Ally Financial has a 1-year low of $31.95 and a 1-year high of $45.46. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $37.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Ally Financial had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial's payout ratio is presently 46.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ally Financial

In other news, CEO Michael George Rhodes bought 25,634 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,033.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,033.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson bought 19,100 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $753,495.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 202,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,002,235.25. This trade represents a 10.39 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter worth $378,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth $3,830,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 77,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 39,493 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in Ally Financial during the 4th quarter worth $318,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 35,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.