Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ALV. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC cut shares of Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Autoliv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.23.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of ALV stock opened at $96.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $96.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.62. Autoliv has a one year low of $89.51 and a one year high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Autoliv will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.70%.

Insider Activity at Autoliv

In related news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total value of $178,839.57. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,218.59. This trade represents a 19.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $127,391.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,142 shares in the company, valued at $607,013.86. This represents a 17.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Autoliv by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,344 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Autoliv by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,501 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 0.6% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,456 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,820 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 74.4% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.