American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $4.45 and last traded at $4.51, with a volume of 249272 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $4.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXL. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cowen initiated coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Axle & Manufacturing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.69.

American Axle & Manufacturing Trading Down 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $520.41 million, a P/E ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,713,232 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $91,608,000 after purchasing an additional 462,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in American Axle & Manufacturing by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,704,889 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,076,000 after buying an additional 23,538 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in American Axle & Manufacturing by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,856,509 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $22,483,000 after acquiring an additional 426,933 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,654,883 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,411,000 after acquiring an additional 21,054 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,562,553 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,837,000 after acquiring an additional 65,535 shares during the last quarter. 91.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Axle & Manufacturing Company Profile

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.