Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) Initiates Share Repurchase Plan

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to buy up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allison Transmission Trading Down 1.6 %

ALSN stock opened at $100.76 on Friday. 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 has a 12-month low of $71.35 and a 12-month high of $122.53. The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $111.49 and its 200 day moving average is $104.48.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Allison Transmission’s payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALSN. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Allison Transmission from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Allison Transmission from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allison Transmission presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.75.

Insider Transactions at Allison Transmission

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total value of $216,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $695,928. This represents a 23.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David S. Graziosi sold 1,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.26, for a total value of $207,207.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 168,833 shares in the company, valued at $20,303,856.58. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,639 shares of company stock worth $2,448,077 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Allison Transmission Company Profile

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.