Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $117.23.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ALV. HSBC cut Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $109.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Autoliv Price Performance

ALV stock opened at $94.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Autoliv has a 52-week low of $89.51 and a 52-week high of $129.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.73.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Autoliv will post 10.05 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. This is an increase from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.70%.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALV. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Autoliv by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,344 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,501 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 0.6% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,456 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Autoliv by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,820 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Autoliv by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,171 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

About Autoliv

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.