GW&K Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Ally Financial Inc. $ALLY

GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 824,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 175,186 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $32,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 224.1% in the third quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC now owns 38,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,524,000 after acquiring an additional 26,890 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ally Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $95,897,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ally Financial by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,384,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,895,000 after purchasing an additional 72,444 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ally Financial by 535.4% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 933,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,372,000 after purchasing an additional 786,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 674,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,439,000 after purchasing an additional 47,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ally Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ally Financial from a “hold” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ally Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ally Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ally Financial news, CEO Michael George Rhodes acquired 23,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $41.68 per share, with a total value of $991,984.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,409.12. This trade represents a 92.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 11,566 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.17 per share, for a total transaction of $499,304.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 225,336 shares in the company, valued at $9,727,755.12. This trade represents a 5.41% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ally Financial Price Performance

Shares of ALLY stock opened at $39.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.67. Ally Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.52 and a 12 month high of $47.27.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Ally Financial had a net margin of 10.77% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.06%.

Ally Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 15.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ally Financial Company Profile

Ally Financial Inc is a leading digital financial services company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company offers a comprehensive suite of banking, lending, and insurance products designed for retail and commercial customers. Through its online-only platform, Ally Bank provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and home mortgages, emphasizing competitive rates and user-friendly mobile and web experiences.

In addition to its banking operations, Ally Financial is a major player in automotive financing and leasing.