Adient (NYSE:ADNT) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Adient plc (NYSE:ADNT) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Bank of America downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an underperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $14.74, but opened at $13.85. Bank of America now has a $18.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $24.00. Adient shares last traded at $13.80, with a volume of 201,100 shares traded.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Adient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Adient from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Adient from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Adient from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Adient from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James Conklin sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $232,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 51,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,537.25. This represents a 18.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Adient by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 210,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,750,000 after purchasing an additional 124,539 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Adient by 202.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 69,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after acquiring an additional 46,766 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Adient by 36.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 411,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,281,000 after acquiring an additional 109,850 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Adient in the third quarter worth about $725,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Adient by 30.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 265,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,993,000 after purchasing an additional 61,531 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Adient Trading Down 4.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 701.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 2.27.

Adient (NYSE:ADNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.05). Adient had a negative net margin of 0.01% and a positive return on equity of 6.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Adient plc will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

About Adient

Adient plc engages in the design, development, manufacture, and market of seating systems and components for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and light trucks. The company's automotive seating solutions include complete seating systems, frames, mechanisms, foams, head restraints, armrests, and trim covers.