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 reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.00 price objective on the auto parts company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 2.65% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AXL. StockNews.com cut shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Axle & Manufacturing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.75.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

AXL stock opened at $5.85 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.05. The stock has a market cap of $687.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.94. American Axle & Manufacturing has a 1 year low of $4.70 and a 1 year high of $8.20. 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 announced its quarterly 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). American Axle & Manufacturing had a net margin of 0.57% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AXL. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of 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 worth $7,267,000 after buying an additional 832,726 shares during the period. Lonestar Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing during the fourth quarter worth $3,893,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 546.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,569 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,586,000 after buying an additional 664,922 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Whitebox Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.