Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $112.79.

ALV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Autoliv from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Autoliv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. HSBC lowered Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $109.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Autoliv from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total value of $178,839.57. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $720,218.59. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $127,391.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $607,013.86. The trade was a 17.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Autoliv by 418.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,483,726 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $219,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004,515 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Autoliv by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,146,500 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $670,270,000 after purchasing an additional 641,895 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Autoliv during the 4th quarter worth $36,761,000. FIL Ltd grew its holdings 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 period. Finally, Lancaster Investment Management grew its holdings in Autoliv by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. Lancaster Investment Management now owns 903,537 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $79,918,000 after acquiring an additional 334,716 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Autoliv Stock Down 0.6%

Autoliv stock traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.03. The stock had a trading volume of 190,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,361. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. Autoliv has a 12 month low of $75.49 and a 12 month high of $129.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.22.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Research analysts predict that Autoliv will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Autoliv's payout ratio is 32.22%.

Autoliv Company Profile

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.