EAM Investors LLC Buys New Position in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

EAM Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 53,355 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,766,000. Allison Transmission makes up 0.8% of EAM Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission in the third quarter valued at about $270,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Allison Transmission by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 25,672 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Allison Transmission by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,585 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 3,262 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Allison Transmission by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,449 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,902,000 after acquiring an additional 11,666 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allison Transmission in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total value of $170,450.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,466,938.04. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Allison Transmission from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.13.

Allison Transmission Stock Down 0.5 %

ALSN stock opened at $88.93 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $97.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.15. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.49 and a 52 week high of $122.53. The company has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is 13.00%.

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.