Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ALSN. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Allison Transmission has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Allison Transmission Price Performance

Shares of ALSN stock opened at $96.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Allison Transmission has a 12-month low of $71.49 and a 12-month high of $122.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $105.16 and a 200-day moving average of $106.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.02.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Allison Transmission declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to repurchase up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allison Transmission news, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total transaction of $216,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,420 shares in the company, valued at $695,928. This trade represents a 23.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $437,325.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Allison Transmission

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission during the fourth quarter worth $2,161,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Allison Transmission by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 293,753 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,643,000 after purchasing an additional 46,435 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Allison Transmission by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 53,014 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 6,728 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Allison Transmission by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 97,150 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $9,333,000 after purchasing an additional 4,261 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,950 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 7,479 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Allison Transmission

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.