Lingohr Asset Management GmbH Takes $297,000 Position in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,750 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,370 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,289 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,733,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,381 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 46.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 358 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

NYSE ALSN opened at $99.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.02. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.49 and a 1-year high of $122.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 2.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.81.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. Equities analysts predict that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

Allison Transmission announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to purchase up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Allison Transmission’s payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total value of $216,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $695,928. The trade was a 23.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on ALSN shares. StockNews.com lowered Allison Transmission from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allison Transmission currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

About Allison Transmission

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.