Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Board of Directors Declares Share Buyback Plan

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to reacquire up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALV opened at $103.49 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.72. Autoliv has a 1-year low of $75.49 and a 1-year high of $121.44. The stock has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Autoliv’s payout ratio is presently 32.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALV. Wall Street Zen raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Autoliv from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Autoliv from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. BNP Paribas raised Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

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.