Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

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

Autoliv Price Performance

NYSE:ALV opened at $99.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Autoliv has a 52 week low of $89.51 and a 52 week high of $129.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.61.

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

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Autoliv’s payout ratio is presently 34.70%.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Autoliv by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 44,600 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Autoliv by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 61,398 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,759,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Autoliv by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 144,844 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $13,584,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Autoliv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

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.