Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Price Target Raised to $40.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) had its target price lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ALLY. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research downgraded Ally Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.47.

Ally Financial Price Performance

NYSE ALLY opened at $40.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.93. Ally Financial has a 52-week low of $31.95 and a 52-week high of $45.46.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last released its earnings results 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 10.84% and a return on equity of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2,021,808.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ally Financial will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALLY. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ally Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,704,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,981,000 after buying an additional 51,426 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 233.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,430,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,509,000 after buying an additional 1,701,264 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 217.0% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,283,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,008 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Ally Financial by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,106,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,974,000 after buying an additional 344,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Ally Financial by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,672,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,535,000 after purchasing an additional 75,080 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% 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.