Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Daiwa America

Daiwa America upgraded shares of Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ALV has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued 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 $121.50.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of ALV opened at $93.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $96.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.12. Autoliv has a 52 week low of $89.51 and a 52 week high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The auto parts company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.16). Autoliv had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 30.85%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Autoliv will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 36.46%.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,765 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Autoliv by 500.6% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,943 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 4,120 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Autoliv by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,733 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $12,810,000 after buying an additional 18,082 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Autoliv by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 24,413 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,590,000 after buying an additional 3,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westover Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Autoliv by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,250 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.