Groupama Asset Managment Buys New Shares in Autoliv, Inc. $ALV

Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,588 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Autoliv by 418.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,483,726 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $219,686,000 after buying an additional 2,004,515 shares during the period. Lancaster Investment Management grew its position in Autoliv by 58.8% during the first quarter. Lancaster Investment Management now owns 903,537 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $79,918,000 after acquiring an additional 334,716 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Autoliv during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,749,000. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Autoliv by 73.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 556,633 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $49,234,000 after acquiring an additional 235,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 worth $164,257,000 after purchasing an additional 233,469 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane raised 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Autoliv from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Autoliv from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.64.

Autoliv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALV opened at $119.9670 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $114.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.31. Autoliv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.49 and a 52-week high of $120.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.39.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The auto parts company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.14. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. Autoliv’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.20%.

Autoliv announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 4th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to reacquire up to 31.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autoliv

In other news, Director Jan Carlson sold 1,555 shares of Autoliv stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total transaction of $168,437.60. Following the sale, the director owned 77,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,041.76. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% 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.