Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Upgraded by BNP Paribas to Strong-Buy Rating

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) was upgraded by equities researchers at BNP Paribas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ALV. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Autoliv from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $116.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Autoliv from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Autoliv from $112.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.79.

Autoliv Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE ALV opened at $98.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. Autoliv has a fifty-two week low of $75.49 and a fifty-two week high of $129.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.08. 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 (NYSE:ALV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The auto parts company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Autoliv

In other news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 5,760 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total value of $569,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,305,062.30. The trade was a 19.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Per Jonas Jademyr sold 401 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.85, for a total transaction of $39,638.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,712.25. This trade represents a 36.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Autoliv by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 273 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 314 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Autoliv during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Autoliv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv Company Profile

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.