American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Receives Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.00 target price on the auto parts company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 3.72% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AXL. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price target on American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.75.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

Shares of American Axle & Manufacturing stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.79. 1,932,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,202,569. The company has a market cap of $680.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08 and a beta of 1.94. American Axle & Manufacturing has a fifty-two week low of $4.70 and a fifty-two week high of $8.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.06.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The auto parts company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 9.63%. American Axle & Manufacturing’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXL. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 45.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 385,067 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 119,991 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in American Axle & Manufacturing during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 274.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 199,795 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 146,430 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 511,378 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after acquiring an additional 104,936 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 540.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 199,514 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 168,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. It operates through the Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment consists of axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, service utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.