Poplar Forest Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lessened its stake in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 28.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 524,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 203,927 shares during the quarter. Ally Financial makes up about 2.7% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $18,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in Ally Financial by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 62,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,169,000 after acquiring an additional 17,985 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ally Financial by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $244,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALLY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Ally Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Ally Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Compass Point upped their target price on Ally Financial from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ally Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.47.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

NYSE ALLY traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.76. The company had a trading volume of 3,365,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,005,403. Ally Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.54 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.28. The firm has a market cap of $12.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.40.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.12. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 10.59%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ally Financial Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is 48.98%.

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.