Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Trims Stake in BorgWarner Inc. $BWA

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in BorgWarner Inc. by 6.1%, selling 20,497 shares and retaining ownership of 317,482 shares worth approximately $10.6 million.
• BorgWarner's stock has received multiple price target upgrades from analysts, with Wells Fargo raising it from $46 to $50, indicating strong market confidence in the company's performance.
• The company recently announced a $1 billion stock buyback program and a quarterly dividend increase from $0.11 to $0.17 per share, reflecting a positive outlook on its valuation and financial health.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its position in BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA - Free Report) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,482 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 20,497 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.14% of BorgWarner worth $10,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BWA. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of BorgWarner by 36.7% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,889,080 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $168,722,000 after buying an additional 1,580,935 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in BorgWarner by 144.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,009,744 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,466 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. bought a new position in BorgWarner during the first quarter worth $28,989,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in BorgWarner by 338.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,085,149 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $31,090,000 after acquiring an additional 837,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in BorgWarner by 1,121.2% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 693,551 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $19,870,000 after acquiring an additional 636,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.67% of the company's stock.

BorgWarner Stock Performance

Shares of BWA traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.72. The stock had a trading volume of 506,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,797,889. The firm has a market cap of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.48, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.66. BorgWarner Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.40 and a 52 week high of $44.70.

BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.56 billion. BorgWarner had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 1.50%.The business's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. BorgWarner has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.450-4.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BorgWarner Inc. will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

BorgWarner announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 31st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to repurchase up to 13.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

BorgWarner Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from BorgWarner's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. BorgWarner's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.34%.

Insider Activity at BorgWarner

In related news, Director Alexis P. Michas sold 8,772 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.31, for a total transaction of $371,143.32. Following the sale, the director directly owned 78,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,338,385.93. The trade was a 10.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stefan Demmerle sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.50, for a total value of $202,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 229,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,276,120. The trade was a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,272 shares of company stock worth $1,263,318. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BWA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BorgWarner from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BorgWarner from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BorgWarner from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Bank of America cut BorgWarner from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised BorgWarner from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.21.

About BorgWarner

BorgWarner Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery heaters, and battery charging.