Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

ALSN has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $112.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Allison Transmission from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on Allison Transmission from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.88.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

NYSE ALSN opened at $85.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.95. Allison Transmission has a 1 year low of $71.49 and a 1 year high of $122.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 47.95%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.00%.

Allison Transmission declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to reacquire up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 1,788 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total transaction of $170,450.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,466,938.04. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $437,325.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at $1,360,075.60. This trade represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Allison Transmission

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,370 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,289 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,733,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Allison Transmission by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,381 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allison Transmission Company Profile

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.