Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Hits New 12-Month High at $125.91

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $125.91 and last traded at $123.36, with a volume of 548141 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $115.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ALV shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of Autoliv from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $117.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.60.

Autoliv Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.72.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.37. Autoliv had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 27.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Autoliv’s payout ratio is 47.30%.

Insider Activity at Autoliv

In related news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 4,226 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.72, for a total transaction of $463,676.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,256.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Autoliv news, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total value of $86,551.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,143.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 4,226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.72, for a total transaction of $463,676.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,256.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,388 shares of company stock valued at $921,757 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Autoliv during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Autoliv during the first quarter worth $36,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 15,425.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 621 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

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.