BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Baird R W upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $43.85 and last traded at $43.82, with a volume of 2218694 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.99.

BWA has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of BorgWarner in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alexis P. Michas sold 8,772 shares of BorgWarner stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.31, for a total transaction of $371,143.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 78,903 shares in the company, valued at $3,338,385.93. The trade was a 10.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Stefan Demmerle sold 15,000 shares of BorgWarner stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $589,650.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 234,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,200,112.40. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,272 shares of company stock valued at $1,263,318. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BorgWarner

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of BorgWarner by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 304,662 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $10,200,000 after buying an additional 77,035 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its stake in BorgWarner by 32.3% in the second quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 121,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,075,000 after purchasing an additional 29,728 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in BorgWarner in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,902,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in BorgWarner by 8.0% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 749,038 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $25,078,000 after purchasing an additional 55,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC increased its stake in BorgWarner by 19.7% in the second quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 11,118 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.67% of the company’s stock.

BorgWarner Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.88.

BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.15. BorgWarner had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. BorgWarner has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.450-4.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BorgWarner Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

BorgWarner Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a boost from BorgWarner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. BorgWarner’s payout ratio is currently 72.34%.

BorgWarner announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 31st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to reacquire up to 13.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

BorgWarner Company Profile

BorgWarner Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery heaters, and battery charging.