Short Interest in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Expands By 27.7%

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,030,000 shares, a growth of 27.7% from the October 31st total of 1,590,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 826,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALV. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Autoliv by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,504,605 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $607,335,000 after acquiring an additional 376,665 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Autoliv by 8.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,567,281 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $239,707,000 after purchasing an additional 205,241 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 3.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,316,874 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $140,892,000 after purchasing an additional 40,957 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 21.8% in the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,160,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $117,330,000 after purchasing an additional 207,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Autoliv by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 987,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $92,221,000 after buying an additional 95,888 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ALV shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Autoliv from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Autoliv from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Autoliv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.77.

Autoliv Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ALV traded up $0.86 during trading on Monday, hitting $99.98. The company had a trading volume of 619,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,284. The stock has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.84. Autoliv has a one year low of $89.51 and a one year high of $129.38.

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

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio is 35.42%.

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.