Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James reduced their price target on Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $112.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Allison Transmission from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.88.

Allison Transmission Price Performance

NYSE ALSN opened at $97.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.50. Allison Transmission has a 52-week low of $71.49 and a 52-week high of $122.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The auto parts company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.26. Allison Transmission had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 47.95%. The company had revenue of $766.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

Allison Transmission declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to reacquire up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total transaction of $170,450.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,466,938.04. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allison Transmission

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 23.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,449 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,902,000 after acquiring an additional 11,666 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Allison Transmission during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Allison Transmission during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 46.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 250,050 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $24,955,000 after purchasing an additional 79,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Allison Transmission

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.