American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Sets New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $10.00 to $8.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. American Axle & Manufacturing traded as low as $4.48 and last traded at $4.56, with a volume of 94607 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $4.75.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in American Axle & Manufacturing by 201.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,246,559 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $7,267,000 after purchasing an additional 832,726 shares during the last quarter. Lonestar Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,893,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 546.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,569 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,586,000 after buying an additional 664,922 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 31.8% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,273,917 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,053,000 after buying an additional 548,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whitebox Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,892,723 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $11,035,000 after buying an additional 477,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $549.69 million, a P/E ratio of 16.70 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The auto parts company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a net margin of 0.57% and a return on equity of 10.44%. American Axle & Manufacturing’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Axle & Manufacturing Company Profile

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.