Principal Securities Inc. Purchases 496 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 89.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $38,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 9,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Ally Financial by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 147,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,327,000 after purchasing an additional 20,569 shares during the period. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,262,000. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ally Financial Price Performance

ALLY opened at $36.68 on Friday. Ally Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.95 and a 1 year high of $45.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.26.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ALLY shares. Barclays increased their price target on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Ally Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.