American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Sets New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $10.00 to $8.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. American Axle & Manufacturing traded as low as $4.48 and last traded at $4.56, with a volume of 94607 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.75.

AXL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXL. Atom Investors LP grew its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 203,152 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 303,883 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,772,000 after buying an additional 3,161 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 81.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,160 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 3,211 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,365 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 1.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 303,709 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 3,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Down 4.1 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $535.82 million, a P/E ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 1.94.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The auto parts company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 0.57%. American Axle & Manufacturing’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. It operates through the Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment consists of axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, service utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.