AQR Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Autoliv, Inc. $ALV

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Autoliv, Inc. by 46.7%, holding 165,626 shares after selling 145,154 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed projections for Autoliv with Barclays raising its price target to $135.00 while Robert W. Baird set it lower at $124.00, reflecting a general outlook of a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $122.92.
• Autoliv recently reported earnings of $2.21 EPS, exceeding estimates, and announced a significant $2.50 billion stock repurchase plan indicating confidence in its valuation.

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 46.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,626 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 145,154 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.21% of Autoliv worth $14,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $219,686,000 after buying an additional 2,004,515 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $164,257,000 after buying an additional 233,469 shares during the last quarter. Lancaster Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 58.8% in the first quarter. Lancaster Investment Management now owns 903,537 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $79,918,000 after buying an additional 334,716 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 13.0% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 793,306 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $70,168,000 after buying an additional 91,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 73.4% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 556,633 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $49,234,000 after buying an additional 235,553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $135.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Autoliv currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.92.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALV traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $126.42. The stock had a trading volume of 337,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 510,963. The company has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.82. Autoliv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.49 and a 1 year high of $127.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The auto parts company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. Autoliv had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 6.83%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to buy up to 31.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Autoliv

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.