Ally Financial Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ALLY)

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 8,589 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 48% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,815 call options.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the first quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 165.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 571.7% during the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALLY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet raised Ally Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.47.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:ALLY opened at $39.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Ally Financial has a 1-year low of $22.54 and a 1-year high of $41.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.63.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.12. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 10.59%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ally Financial will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.98%.

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.