Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) Stock

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 52.35% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ALLY. StockNews.com raised shares of Ally Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $46.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ally Financial from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Ally Financial from $47.00 to $38.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Ally Financial in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine 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 $40.69.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Ally Financial stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $36.10. 821,446 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,478,438. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.77. Ally Financial has a 52-week low of $26.50 and a 52-week high of $45.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ally Financial will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ally Financial by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,697,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,715,000 after acquiring an additional 987,489 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the first quarter worth $152,079,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Ally Financial by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,697,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,670,000 after buying an additional 31,491 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in Ally Financial by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,774,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,616,000 after acquiring an additional 21,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ally Financial by 217.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,283,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

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.