Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ALV. Barclays cut their price target on Autoliv from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America cut their target price on Autoliv from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.62.

Autoliv Price Performance

ALV stock opened at $97.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.96. Autoliv has a 52-week low of $89.51 and a 52-week high of $129.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.67.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.56 billion for 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%. Autoliv’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Research analysts expect that Autoliv will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. Lind Value II ApS purchased a new position in shares of Autoliv in the third quarter worth about $35,818,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Autoliv by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,504,605 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $607,335,000 after buying an additional 376,665 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Autoliv by 130.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 498,575 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,111,000 after buying an additional 281,956 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its holdings in Autoliv by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,160,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $117,330,000 after acquiring an additional 207,521 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Autoliv by 8.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,567,281 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $239,707,000 after acquiring an additional 205,241 shares in the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.