BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,460,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the October 15th total of 6,960,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Insider Activity at BorgWarner

In other BorgWarner news, VP Stefan Demmerle sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.79, for a total value of $747,985.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 227,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,915,177.27. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederic Lissalde sold 154,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.61, for a total transaction of $5,329,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 259,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,997,111.77. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 201,466 shares of company stock valued at $6,973,828 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BorgWarner

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BorgWarner by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA lifted its holdings in shares of BorgWarner by 0.5% during the third quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA now owns 59,457 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in BorgWarner by 1.8% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 19,200 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in BorgWarner by 3.6% in the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 9,763 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in BorgWarner by 2.2% in the third quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,599 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.67% of the company’s stock.

BorgWarner Stock Performance

Shares of BWA stock traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.62. 320,757 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,674,108. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.98. BorgWarner has a 52 week low of $29.51 and a 52 week high of $38.22.

BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The auto parts company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.50 billion. BorgWarner had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 15.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BorgWarner will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BorgWarner Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. BorgWarner’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BWA. Evercore ISI raised shares of BorgWarner from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of BorgWarner from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BorgWarner has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.21.

BorgWarner Company Profile

BorgWarner Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery heaters, and battery charging.