Alliance Laundry (NYSE:ALH) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Alliance Laundry (NYSE:ALH) from a "hold" to a "buy," but analyst coverage remains mixed (one Buy, one Hold, one Sell) with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.00.
• Quarterly results beat expectations: Alliance Laundry reported EPS of $0.24 versus $0.23 expected and revenue of $434.9M (ahead of $424.1M), up 10.1% year-over-year, while the stock trades around $19.57—well below the $28 average target and its 52-week high of $27.48.
• Institutional buying has increased recently, with new positions from Vanguard (~$76.2M), Massachusetts Financial Services (~$15.0M), UBS (~$19.4M) and others, indicating growing institutional interest.

Alliance Laundry (NYSE:ALH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Alliance Laundry from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Alliance Laundry from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings started coverage on shares of Alliance Laundry in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a "sell (d+)" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.00.

Alliance Laundry Stock Performance

Alliance Laundry stock opened at $19.57 on Friday. Alliance Laundry has a fifty-two week low of $18.64 and a fifty-two week high of $27.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.54, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Alliance Laundry (NYSE:ALH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $434.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.12 million. The firm's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Alliance Laundry

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALH. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Alliance Laundry in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,951,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Alliance Laundry during the 4th quarter worth about $3,209,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Alliance Laundry during the fourth quarter worth about $6,105,000. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alliance Laundry in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,161,000. Finally, UBS Group AG acquired a new position in shares of Alliance Laundry in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,411,000.

Alliance Laundry Company Profile

Alliance Laundry Systems NYSE: ALH is a manufacturer and distributor of commercial and residential laundry equipment and related services. The company designs, produces and sells a range of coin-operated and vended machines, on-premises washers and dryers, and allied equipment for laundromats, multi-housing, hospitality, healthcare and other institutional customers. Alliance’s product strategy emphasizes durable, high-throughput machines for professional laundry operators as well as appliances geared to self-service and multi-dwelling applications.

Its product portfolio includes coin-operated and card-operated washers and dryers, stacked and single-pocket models, industrial-grade on-premises equipment, and parts and accessories.

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