Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Upgraded at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $123.00 target price on the auto parts company’s stock.

ALV has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Autoliv from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Autoliv from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Pareto Securities lowered Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Autoliv from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.79.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALV opened at $98.04 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. Autoliv has a 52-week low of $75.49 and a 52-week high of $129.38. 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 (NYSE:ALV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.43. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 32.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Autoliv news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $178,839.57. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,218.59. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $127,391.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $607,013.86. This trade represents a 17.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALV. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Autoliv by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 273 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Autoliv by 74.4% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 122.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 370 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Autoliv in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in Autoliv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv Company Profile

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.