Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Plans $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th.

Ally Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 16.5% annually over the last three years. Ally Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 22.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ally Financial to earn $5.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.8%.

Ally Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Ally Financial stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $36.40. The company had a trading volume of 2,570,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,882,794. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.76. The firm has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.40. Ally Financial has a 12-month low of $22.54 and a 12-month high of $41.56.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 12.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ally Financial will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ally Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ALLY. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 115.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Natixis bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Ally Financial by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. 88.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ALLY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Ally Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America upgraded Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James cut Ally Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.59.

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.