Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target on the auto parts company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.19% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on ALV. BNP Paribas raised shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Autoliv in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $116.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Autoliv from $95.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Autoliv from $103.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Autoliv Trading Up 2.4%

Autoliv stock opened at $114.58 on Wednesday. Autoliv has a 12 month low of $75.49 and a 12 month high of $115.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.22.

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 net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 30.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to reacquire up to 31.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other Autoliv news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total value of $168,437.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,041.76. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Autoliv

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Autoliv by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,146,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $670,270,000 after acquiring an additional 641,895 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 418.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,483,726 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $219,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004,515 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Autoliv by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,382,265 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $223,433,000 after purchasing an additional 351,876 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Autoliv by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,857,069 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $164,257,000 after buying an additional 233,469 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in Autoliv by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,378,636 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $133,259,000 after buying an additional 59,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

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.