American Trust Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Autoliv, Inc. $ALV

Key Points

• American Trust Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Autoliv, Inc. by 6.8%, purchasing an additional 3,143 shares, now holding a total of 49,523 shares worth approximately $4.38 million.
• Several analysts have provided mixed ratings on Autoliv, with a majority rating it as a "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.64.
• Autoliv reported a quarterly EPS of $2.21, exceeding estimates, and has initiated a $2.5 billion stock repurchase plan to buy back up to 31.3% of its shares, signaling confidence in its stock value.

American Trust Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,523 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,143 shares during the quarter. Autoliv makes up 1.8% of American Trust Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Autoliv worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Autoliv by 418.3% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,004,515 shares during the last quarter. Lancaster Investment Management increased its stake in Autoliv by 58.8% in the first quarter. Lancaster Investment Management now owns 903,537 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $79,918,000 after purchasing an additional 334,716 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Autoliv in the fourth quarter valued at $25,749,000. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Autoliv by 73.4% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 556,633 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $49,234,000 after purchasing an additional 235,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Autoliv by 14.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,857,069 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $164,257,000 after purchasing an additional 233,469 shares during the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Autoliv from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total value of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 77,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,394,041.76. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Autoliv Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ALV traded down $0.86 on Friday, hitting $124.57. The company had a trading volume of 491,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 547,693. Autoliv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.49 and a 12-month high of $126.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $117.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.35.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The auto parts company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. Autoliv had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 6.83%.The company had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is 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.