Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY)

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 8,589 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 48% compared to the average volume of 5,815 call options.

Ally Financial Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE ALLY opened at $38.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.13 and its 200-day moving average is $33.72. Ally Financial has a one year low of $22.54 and a one year high of $41.56.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Ally Financial’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ally Financial will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Ally Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ally Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Ally Financial by 165.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Ally Financial by 571.7% in the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised Ally Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet raised Ally Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on Ally Financial from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ally Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.47.

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.