Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $92.50, but opened at $97.08. Autoliv shares last traded at $96.19, with a volume of 56,346 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC downgraded shares of Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $109.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Pareto Securities downgraded shares of Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America raised shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.23.

Autoliv Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.55. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.58.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 34.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Autoliv news, EVP Per Jonas Jademyr sold 401 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.85, for a total transaction of $39,638.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,712.25. This represents a 36.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,305,062.30. This trade represents a 19.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Autoliv by 9.9% during the 4th 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 grew its holdings in 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 during the period. FIL Ltd raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 351,876 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 valued at $152,275,000 after acquiring an additional 134,347 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted 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 valued at $133,259,000 after acquiring an additional 59,592 shares during the period. 69.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Autoliv Company Profile

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.