Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ALV. Bank of America lowered their target price on Autoliv from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Autoliv in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Autoliv from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Autoliv from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.77.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of ALV stock opened at $98.61 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12-month low of $89.51 and a 12-month high of $129.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $95.81 and a 200-day moving average of $103.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 30.85%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is presently 35.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

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

About Autoliv

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.