ABC Arbitrage SA Has $1.44 Million Stock Holdings in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA significantly increased its stake in Autoliv, Inc. by 289.0%, acquiring an additional 12,130 shares during the first quarter.
• Autoliv reported a quarterly earnings surprise, with earnings per share of $2.21, exceeding estimates and marking a 4.2% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company announced a dividend increase, with a quarterly payment of $0.85, up from $0.70, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

ABC Arbitrage SA increased its stake in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 289.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,327 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings in Autoliv were worth $1,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 122.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 370 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Autoliv during the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Autoliv by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 678 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Autoliv by 188.6% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 788 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Autoliv from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Autoliv in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Autoliv from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total value of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,394,041.76. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Autoliv Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:ALV traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $113.83. The stock had a trading volume of 436,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 804,800. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.98. The company has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.39. Autoliv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.49 and a 1-year high of $118.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The auto parts company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.14. Autoliv had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 6.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. Autoliv's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Autoliv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Autoliv's payout ratio is 30.63%.

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto parts company to repurchase up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.