American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Trading Up 7.8% – Should You Buy?

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) shares traded up 7.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $7.36 and last traded at $7.4350. 894,984 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 2,492,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AXL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $7.00 price target on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Monday, December 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.08.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $902.68 million, a PE ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.75.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The auto parts company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.72%.The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 8.0% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 30,381 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in American Axle & Manufacturing by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 113,950 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in American Axle & Manufacturing by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,524 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 267.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,383 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 118,944 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

American Axle & Manufacturing Company Profile

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AXL) is a global designer, engineer and manufacturer of driveline and drivetrain systems and components for light vehicles, commercial trucks and off-highway applications. The company’s core product portfolio includes axles, driveshafts, half-shafts, drive module assemblies and differential gears, as well as advanced metallic and composite structures for electric and hybrid vehicles. AAM’s capabilities also encompass system testing, rapid prototyping and precision machining to support both high-volume production and low-volume, specialty vehicle applications.

Founded in 1994 following the divestiture of the Detroit Axle Division of General Motors, American Axle & Manufacturing completed its initial public offering in 1998.