Sciencast Management LP Buys Shares of 15,254 Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALLY. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 218.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ally Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ally Financial news, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,002,235.25. This trade represents a 10.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael George Rhodes acquired 25,634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.09 per share, with a total value of $1,002,033.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 25,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,033.06. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

NYSE ALLY opened at $36.50 on Friday. Ally Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.95 and a fifty-two week high of $45.46. The stock has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.99 and a 200-day moving average of $36.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALLY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Ally Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ally Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.76.

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.