Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $109.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised 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. Finally, Pareto Securities lowered shares of Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.23.

Autoliv Trading Down 1.4 %

Autoliv stock opened at $96.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.58. Autoliv has a 1 year low of $89.51 and a 1 year high of $129.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.62.

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

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Autoliv

In other Autoliv news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $720,218.59. This trade represents a 19.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total transaction of $569,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,305,062.30. This trade represents a 19.82 % 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 worth $915,534 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Autoliv by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,146,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $670,270,000 after purchasing an additional 641,895 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Autoliv by 8.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,567,281 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $239,707,000 after purchasing an additional 205,241 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Autoliv by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,382,265 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $223,433,000 after purchasing an additional 351,876 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Autoliv by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,623,600 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $152,275,000 after purchasing an additional 134,347 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its holdings in Autoliv by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,378,636 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $133,259,000 after purchasing an additional 59,592 shares during the period. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.