Merewether Investment Management LP Raises Holdings in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Merewether Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 73.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,400 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 20.5% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,362,040 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $252,715,000 after buying an additional 402,426 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Autoliv by 1,437.4% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 51,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,855,000 after acquiring an additional 48,612 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in Autoliv during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,284,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Autoliv by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 272,793 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,186,000 after purchasing an additional 71,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Autoliv by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 135,424 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $12,645,000 after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com lowered Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Autoliv from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Autoliv in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Autoliv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.77.

Autoliv Price Performance

Shares of Autoliv stock opened at $97.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. Autoliv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $89.51 and a 12-month high of $129.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.46.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The auto parts company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 30.85%. Autoliv’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.46%.

Autoliv 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.