Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Buys 495,584 Shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,752,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 495,584 shares during the quarter. Ally Financial makes up approximately 2.5% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 0.91% of Ally Financial worth $96,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Ally Financial by 34.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,122,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,309,000 after purchasing an additional 795,754 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ally Financial by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 819,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,855,000 after buying an additional 70,615 shares during the period. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,336,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ally Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $724,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Ally Financial by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 23,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ALLY traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.16. 2,702,493 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,959,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.53. Ally Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.54 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ally Financial Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Ally Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALLY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Ally Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ally Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ally Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.