American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Trading 5.9% Higher on Earnings Beat

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL)’s share price rose 5.9% during trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $4.25 and last traded at $4.23. Approximately 525,458 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,838,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.99.

The auto parts company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 0.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.00 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen started coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Cowen started coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Axle & Manufacturing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXL. Whitebox Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,892,723 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $11,035,000 after purchasing an additional 477,550 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,097,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,399,000 after acquiring an additional 256,150 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,856,509 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $22,483,000 after acquiring an additional 426,933 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 546.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,569 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,586,000 after acquiring an additional 664,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 876,266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,109,000 after purchasing an additional 165,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $511.79 million, a PE ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.26.

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.