American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Earns Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $5.00 target price on the auto parts company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 50.38% from the stock’s previous close.

AXL has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Cowen began coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Axle & Manufacturing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.25.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Performance

AXL stock opened at $3.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $393.46 million, a P/E ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.47. American Axle & Manufacturing has a 52 week low of $3.00 and a 52 week high of $7.98.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The auto parts company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06). American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 0.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,713,232 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $91,608,000 after acquiring an additional 462,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in American Axle & Manufacturing by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,704,889 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,076,000 after purchasing an additional 23,538 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,856,509 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $22,483,000 after purchasing an additional 426,933 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,654,883 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,411,000 after buying an additional 21,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,346,254 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $13,679,000 after buying an additional 72,337 shares during the last quarter. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. It operates through the Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment consists of axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, service utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.