Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ALSN. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Allison Transmission from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $112.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Allison Transmission from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.88.

Allison Transmission Stock Down 3.2 %

Allison Transmission stock opened at $85.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.95. Allison Transmission has a 1-year low of $71.49 and a 1-year high of $122.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last issued its 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, analysts predict that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.00%.

Allison Transmission declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to purchase up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Allison Transmission

In related news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This represents a 24.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total transaction of $170,450.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,466,938.04. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Allison Transmission by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,289 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,733,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in Allison Transmission by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Allison Transmission by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,381 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

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.