Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $84.81 and last traded at $85.29, with a volume of 406932 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ALV. Cowen started coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Pareto Securities cut Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC cut Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $109.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Autoliv has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.14.

Autoliv Stock Down 4.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.32.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. Equities research analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Autoliv’s payout ratio is currently 34.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other Autoliv news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $178,839.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,218.59. This trade represents a 19.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total value of $569,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,305,062.30. This trade represents a 19.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Autoliv by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,146,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $670,270,000 after acquiring an additional 641,895 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Autoliv during the fourth quarter worth about $36,761,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,382,265 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $223,433,000 after purchasing an additional 351,876 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 701,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $65,840,000 after purchasing an additional 284,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Autoliv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,749,000. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.