Credit Agricole S A Raises Position in 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 position in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 25.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,500 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,850 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A owned 0.30% of Autoliv worth $20,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Autoliv by 122.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 370 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Autoliv in the first quarter valued at $637,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Autoliv by 11.9% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Autoliv by 7.3% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 75,591 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 5,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Autoliv during the first quarter valued at about $407,000. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Autoliv Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of Autoliv stock traded up $4.1020 during trading on Friday, reaching $124.1820. 432,996 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 601,312. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $114.84 and its 200 day moving average is $101.52. The firm has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.39. Autoliv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.49 and a 1 year high of $124.82.

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

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto parts company to repurchase up to 31.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Autoliv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Autoliv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total transaction of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ALV. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Autoliv from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Autoliv from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Autoliv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.64.

Autoliv 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.