Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $9.71 Million Holdings in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,728 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 9,817 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $9,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Autoliv by 188.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 788 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Autoliv by 1.8% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 29,307 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Autoliv by 157,400.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,150 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Autoliv by 1.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 133,788 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $11,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Autoliv by 19,615.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,727 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after acquiring an additional 32,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ALV. Cowen began coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BNP Paribas raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Autoliv from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Autoliv Stock Performance

NYSE:ALV opened at $105.67 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.49 and its 200-day moving average is $94.80. Autoliv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.49 and a 1-year high of $119.74.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto parts company to purchase up to 31.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 39.13%.

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.