Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Daiwa America raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Pareto Securities downgraded Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Autoliv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.14.

Autoliv Stock Performance

ALV stock opened at $97.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.56. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.58. Autoliv has a 1-year low of $89.51 and a 1-year high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is presently 34.70%.

Insider Activity at Autoliv

In other news, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $127,391.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $607,013.86. The trade was a 17.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total transaction of $569,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 23,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,305,062.30. This trade represents a 19.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALV. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Autoliv by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,567,281 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $239,707,000 after buying an additional 205,241 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Autoliv by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,561 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Autoliv by 2,115.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Autoliv by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,612 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Autoliv by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 48,391 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,670,000 after purchasing an additional 13,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

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.