Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Short Interest Up 48.6% in March

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,570,000 shares, a growth of 48.6% from the March 15th total of 1,730,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 918,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Magnus Jarlegren sold 1,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $127,391.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $607,013.86. This represents a 17.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total transaction of $569,664.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,305,062.30. The trade was a 19.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,253 shares of company stock valued at $915,534 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 273 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Autoliv by 74.4% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Autoliv by 122.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 370 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Autoliv during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Autoliv in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ALV shares. Barclays upgraded Autoliv from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $116.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Autoliv from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Autoliv in a report on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.64.

Autoliv Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:ALV opened at $86.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.96. Autoliv has a 1 year low of $75.49 and a 1 year high of $129.38. The stock has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.32.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.43. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Autoliv will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.22%.

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.