American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Shares Down 4.8% – Should You Sell?

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL)’s share price was down 4.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $4.44 and last traded at $4.42. Approximately 411,635 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,596,179 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AXL shares. Barclays decreased their price target on American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Cowen started coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on American Axle & Manufacturing from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.69.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $537.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.83.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The auto parts company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 0.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 201.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,246,559 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $7,267,000 after buying an additional 832,726 shares in the last quarter. Lonestar Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,893,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 546.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,569 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,586,000 after buying an additional 664,922 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,273,917 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,053,000 after buying an additional 548,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitebox Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,892,723 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $11,035,000 after buying an additional 477,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. It operates through the Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment consists of axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, service utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.