Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Short Interest Update

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, a drop of 15.2% from the August 15th total of 3,290,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 854,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 20.5% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,362,040 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $252,715,000 after buying an additional 402,426 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 3.2% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,160,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $117,330,000 after purchasing an additional 207,521 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 958,304 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after purchasing an additional 278,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Autoliv in the 4th quarter valued at $91,065,000. 69.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALV shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Autoliv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Autoliv from $122.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Autoliv from $128.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Autoliv in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Autoliv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.79.

Autoliv Price Performance

Autoliv stock traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $94.82. The company had a trading volume of 691,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,226. The company has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.60. Autoliv has a 12-month low of $89.37 and a 12-month high of $129.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The auto parts company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.57). The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Autoliv had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 30.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Autoliv will post 9.05 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.43%.

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.