Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 275,639 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 30.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 635,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 275,639 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $22,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALLY. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Ally Financial by 184.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 532,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,044,000 after purchasing an additional 345,210 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ally Financial by 5.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Ally Financial by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 4,663 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Ally Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $450,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Ally Financial by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 34,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 8,217 shares during the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Ally Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Ally Financial from $46.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Ally Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.14.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ALLY stock opened at $35.75 on Thursday. Ally Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.77 and a 12 month high of $45.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.70 and its 200 day moving average is $38.44.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 10.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.00%.

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.