Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Short Interest Update

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, a decline of 8.6% from the March 15th total of 1,740,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 536,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Autoliv Stock Performance

ALV traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $115.63. The stock had a trading volume of 408,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,253. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Autoliv has a 12 month low of $79.66 and a 12 month high of $124.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.85.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.37. Autoliv had a return on equity of 27.13% and a net margin of 4.66%. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Autoliv will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total value of $86,551.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,143.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Anthony J. Nellis sold 760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $83,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $534,490. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total transaction of $86,551.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,143.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,388 shares of company stock valued at $921,757 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Autoliv by 188.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,468,058 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $510,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575,146 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 9.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,264,937 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $507,961,000 after buying an additional 459,147 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 6.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,136,224 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $206,103,000 after buying an additional 133,746 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Autoliv by 185.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,455,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $135,904,000 after buying an additional 945,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Autoliv by 292.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,146,435 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $87,794,000 after acquiring an additional 854,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Autoliv from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Autoliv currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.18.

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.