American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Downgraded to "Buy" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• American Axle & Manufacturing's stock was downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment.
• The company recently reported a 0.21 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of 0.14 EPS, although revenue was down 5.9% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors have shown significant interest, with Arrowstreet Capital increasing its stake by 615.8% in the second quarter, reflecting growing confidence in the company.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

AXL has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded American Axle & Manufacturing from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on American Axle & Manufacturing from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.00.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

AXL stock opened at $5.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.72. The stock has a market cap of $632.46 million, a PE ratio of 15.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86. American Axle & Manufacturing has a 1 year low of $3.00 and a 1 year high of $7.03.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The auto parts company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 0.73%.American Axle & Manufacturing's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. American Axle & Manufacturing has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 615.8% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,879,668 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $7,669,000 after buying an additional 1,617,069 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 465.1% in the first quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 1,944,668 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $7,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,512 shares during the last quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 23.0% in the second quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 5,599,014 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $22,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,820 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 622.6% in the first quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 957,500 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 825,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in the second quarter worth $3,231,000. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. It operates through the Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment consists of axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, service utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.

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