StockNews.com Downgrades Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Autoliv from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Autoliv from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.77.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALV opened at $99.13 on Wednesday. Autoliv has a 12 month low of $89.51 and a 12 month high of $129.38. The company has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The auto parts company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.16). Autoliv had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 5.98%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Autoliv will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autoliv

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALV. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Autoliv by 3.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 132,341 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,939,000 after buying an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its stake in shares of Autoliv by 13.6% in the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Autoliv during the first quarter worth approximately $401,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Autoliv by 44.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,199 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Autoliv in the second quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv Company Profile

Autoliv, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and supplies passive safety systems to the automotive industry in Europe, the Americas, China, Japan, and rest of Asia. It offers passive safety systems, including modules and components for frontal-impact airbag protection systems, side-impact airbag protection systems, seatbelts, steering wheels, and inflator technologies.