HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Autoliv, Inc. $ALV

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Autoliv, Inc. by 37.7%, owning 62,900 shares worth $5.56 million after selling 38,122 shares in the first quarter.
• Autoliv has authorized a $2.50 billion share buyback plan, allowing the company to repurchase up to 31.3% of its stock, indicating potential undervaluation.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.85 per share, reflecting a growth from the prior $0.70, and represents a 2.9% dividend yield.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) by 37.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,900 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 38,122 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Autoliv worth $5,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Autoliv by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,655 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,628 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $6,155,000 after purchasing an additional 15,877 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Autoliv in the 4th quarter worth $3,815,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Autoliv by 79.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,282 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 24,066 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Autoliv by 327.5% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 155,236 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $14,560,000 after buying an additional 118,925 shares during the period. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Autoliv

In related news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 77,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,394,041.76. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALV opened at $118.37 on Monday. 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 cap of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.60 and a 200 day moving average of $100.72. Autoliv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.49 and a twelve month high of $119.53.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.57 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to purchase up to 31.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Autoliv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Autoliv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALV. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Autoliv in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Autoliv from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Autoliv 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.

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