Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Raised to Strong-Buy at BNP Paribas

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) was upgraded by stock analysts at BNP Paribas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Autoliv from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $116.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.79.

Autoliv Stock Performance

NYSE ALV opened at $98.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.96. Autoliv has a 52-week low of $75.49 and a 52-week high of $129.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.08.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.43. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Autoliv will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 represents a 19.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total value of $178,839.57. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,218.59. This represents a 19.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autoliv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALV. FMR LLC boosted its position in Autoliv by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,146,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $670,270,000 after buying an additional 641,895 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Autoliv by 418.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,483,726 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $219,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004,515 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its position in Autoliv by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,382,265 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $223,433,000 after acquiring an additional 351,876 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Autoliv by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,623,600 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $152,275,000 after purchasing an additional 134,347 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its position in Autoliv by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,378,636 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $133,259,000 after purchasing an additional 59,592 shares during the last quarter. 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.