StockNews.com Downgrades Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) to Hold

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Autoliv from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Autoliv from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Autoliv presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.77.

Autoliv Stock Performance

NYSE ALV traded down $0.68 on Wednesday, hitting $98.61. 489,109 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 705,418. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.37. Autoliv has a 52-week low of $89.51 and a 52-week high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The auto parts company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 30.85%. Autoliv’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Autoliv will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Autoliv by 20.5% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,362,040 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $252,715,000 after acquiring an additional 402,426 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new position in shares of Autoliv during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,284,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Autoliv by 1,437.4% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 51,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,855,000 after buying an additional 48,612 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Autoliv by 35.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 272,793 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,186,000 after buying an additional 71,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Autoliv during the second quarter valued at approximately $236,000. 69.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Autoliv

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.