BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Baird R W upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $43.85 and last traded at $43.82, with a volume of 2218694 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.99.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BWA. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BorgWarner from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BorgWarner from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BorgWarner from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on BorgWarner from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BorgWarner from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alexis P. Michas sold 8,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.31, for a total value of $371,143.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 78,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,338,385.93. This represents a 10.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Isabelle Mckenzie sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $100,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 55,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,359.45. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,272 shares of company stock valued at $1,263,318 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BorgWarner

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in BorgWarner by 3.8% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 219,180 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,280,000 after purchasing an additional 7,977 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in BorgWarner by 13.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,258 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC bought a new position in BorgWarner during the first quarter valued at $235,000. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BorgWarner during the first quarter worth $522,000. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BorgWarner by 59.8% during the first quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,190 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 9,427 shares in the last quarter. 95.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BorgWarner Trading Up 0.3%

The stock has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a PE ratio of 46.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.56 billion. BorgWarner had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 1.50%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. BorgWarner has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.450-4.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that BorgWarner Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

BorgWarner Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from BorgWarner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. BorgWarner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.34%.

BorgWarner announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 31st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to reacquire up to 13.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About BorgWarner

BorgWarner Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery heaters, and battery charging.