Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,840 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALSN. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 24.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,745,697 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,224,479,000 after buying an additional 2,493,310 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission in the third quarter worth $52,156,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 252.5% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 593,044 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $56,974,000 after buying an additional 424,813 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter worth $41,081,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 34.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 914,918 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $87,896,000 after buying an additional 233,214 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

NYSE:ALSN opened at $96.38 on Friday. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.49 and a 12-month high of $122.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.79.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 47.95%. Research analysts anticipate that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is a boost from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.00%.

Allison Transmission announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to repurchase up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered Allison Transmission from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allison Transmission currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allison Transmission news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $437,325.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total transaction of $216,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $695,928. The trade was a 23.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Allison Transmission

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.