Credit Agricole S A Acquires 46,850 Shares of Autoliv, Inc. $ALV

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A raised its holdings in Autoliv, Inc. by 25.4%, totaling approximately $20.48 million in shares, reflecting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Autoliv recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.70 to $0.85 per share, indicating a dividend yield of 2.8% and a sustainable payout ratio of 30.63%.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a net margin of 6.83% and revenue growth of 4.2% year-over-year, outperforming analyst expectations on both earnings per share and total revenue.

Credit Agricole S A boosted its holdings in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,500 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,850 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A owned about 0.30% of Autoliv worth $20,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Autoliv by 122.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 370 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Autoliv during the 1st quarter valued at $637,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in Autoliv by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 84,358 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $7,461,000 after acquiring an additional 8,953 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Autoliv by 7.3% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 75,591 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Autoliv during the first quarter worth about $407,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALV. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Autoliv from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Autoliv from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Autoliv in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $120.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In related news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total value of $168,437.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 77,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,041.76. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALV traded up $0.1270 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $124.3470. The company's stock had a trading volume of 222,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 799,956. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.62. Autoliv, Inc. has a one year low of $75.49 and a one year high of $124.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.39.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Autoliv had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 6.83%.The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Autoliv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Autoliv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.20%.

Autoliv declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto parts company to buy up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.