Ally Financial Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ALLY)

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 26,892 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 466% compared to the average daily volume of 4,748 call options.

Ally Financial Trading Down 0.5%

ALLY stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.63. The company had a trading volume of 4,752,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,383,964. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.31 and a 200 day moving average of $42.74. The company has a market capitalization of $11.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.09. Ally Financial has a 12 month low of $35.92 and a 12 month high of $47.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Ally Financial had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ally Financial will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALLY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Ally Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ally Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Friday, September 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on Ally Financial from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephanie Richard sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total transaction of $221,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 88,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,933,241.21. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALLY. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,613,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Ally Financial during the second quarter valued at $3,195,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ally Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $3,926,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,240,650,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ally Financial by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,381,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,795,000 after buying an additional 241,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

About Ally Financial

Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY) is a digital financial-services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Its principal businesses include automotive financing, consumer banking, commercial finance and other lending services, primarily serving customers and businesses in the United States.

Through Ally Auto, the company provides retail installment loans and leases for new and used vehicles, along with financing and related services for automotive dealers. Ally Bank offers online checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and other deposit products.