Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA) Short Interest Down 53.3% in March

Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA) (TSE:MG) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,400,000 shares, a drop of 53.3% from the February 28th total of 15,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MGA shares. Raymond James lowered their target price on Magna International from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Magna International from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Magna International from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Magna International from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Magna International from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Magna International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.03.

Institutional Trading of Magna International

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Magna International by 158.1% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,561,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,953 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Magna International by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,395,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,087,000 after purchasing an additional 822,375 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Magna International by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,627,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,810,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Magna International by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,523,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,280,000 after purchasing an additional 371,437 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. increased its position in shares of Magna International by 72.1% during the fourth quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 412,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,228,000 after buying an additional 172,754 shares during the period. 67.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Magna International Stock Performance

Magna International stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,654,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,083. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.86. Magna International has a 1 year low of $33.30 and a 1 year high of $54.36. The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Magna International (NYSE:MGA) (TSE:MG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.23. Magna International had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $10.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Magna International will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Magna International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This is an increase from Magna International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.71%. Magna International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.27%.

About Magna International

Magna International Inc designs, engineers, and manufactures components, assemblies, systems, subsystems, and modules for original equipment manufacturers of vehicles and light trucks worldwide. It operates through four segments: Body Exteriors & Structures, Power & Vision, Seating Systems, and Complete Vehicles.