Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires Shares of 454,894 Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 454,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,381,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALLY. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Ally Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Ally Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 50,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Ally Financial by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Ally Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Ally Financial stock opened at $32.34 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.10 and a 200 day moving average of $36.00. Ally Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.52 and a 12 month high of $45.46.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.15. Ally Financial had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.24%.

Insider Transactions at Ally Financial

In other Ally Financial news, insider Stephanie N. Richard sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total value of $257,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 90,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,905,038.18. This trade represents a 8.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 8,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.81 per share, with a total value of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 236,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,284,131.01. This represents a 3.59 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ally Financial from $43.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ally Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.69.

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.