American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.9167.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXL. Morgan Stanley set a $7.00 price target on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Monday, December 8th. BWS Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXL. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in American Axle & Manufacturing in the second quarter valued at about $120,000. PSquared Asset Management AG increased its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 99.9% in the 2nd quarter. PSquared Asset Management AG now owns 369,395 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 184,570 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,578,385 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,680,000 after acquiring an additional 294,805 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in American Axle & Manufacturing during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE AXL opened at $7.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.17. American Axle & Manufacturing has a one year low of $3.00 and a one year high of $8.63. The firm has a market cap of $947.23 million, a PE ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The auto parts company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.72%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AXL) is a global designer, engineer and manufacturer of driveline and drivetrain systems and components for light vehicles, commercial trucks and off-highway applications. The company’s core product portfolio includes axles, driveshafts, half-shafts, drive module assemblies and differential gears, as well as advanced metallic and composite structures for electric and hybrid vehicles. AAM’s capabilities also encompass system testing, rapid prototyping and precision machining to support both high-volume production and low-volume, specialty vehicle applications.

Founded in 1994 following the divestiture of the Detroit Axle Division of General Motors, American Axle & Manufacturing completed its initial public offering in 1998.