M&T Bank Corp Buys New Shares in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,329 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Autoliv by 74.4% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Autoliv by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,886 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Autoliv by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,592 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Autoliv by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,433 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Autoliv by 2.0% in the fourth 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. 69.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Autoliv

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

Autoliv Stock Down 4.1%

ALV stock traded down $4.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $112.00. 1,595,733 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 812,896. The company has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Autoliv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.49 and a twelve month high of $118.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.34.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.57 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 30.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Autoliv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Autoliv's payout ratio is 32.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALV. 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 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Autoliv from $108.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $135.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $121.19.

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.