American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:DCH) Upgraded at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:DCH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $8.00 price target on the auto parts company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut American Axle & Manufacturing from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on American Axle & Manufacturing from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded American Axle & Manufacturing from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.12.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Performance

NYSE:DCH opened at $5.57 on Thursday. American Axle & Manufacturing has a 52 week low of $3.00 and a 52 week high of $9.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.31, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 2.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.61.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:DCH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The auto parts company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter. American Axle & Manufacturing had a positive return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 0.34%.The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.06) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of American Axle & Manufacturing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DCH. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 30,381 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 803,870 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC lifted its stake in American Axle & Manufacturing by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 219,195 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in American Axle & Manufacturing by 7.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,524 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993 shares during the last quarter. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key American Axle & Manufacturing News

Here are the key news stories impacting American Axle & Manufacturing this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank upgraded DCH from “hold” to “buy” and set an $8.00 price target (?42.6% above the current price), which can attract buyers and provide near-term upside support. Deutsche Bank Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed an earnings beat (Q4 EPS of $0.07 vs. consensus ($0.02)) and slight year-over-year revenue growth, giving fundamental backing to the upgrade and reducing downside risk from operations. DCH Earnings Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple short-form “head-to-head” competitor comparison pieces were published (AmericanBankingNews ran several March 5–6 articles). These are largely aggregative comparisons rather than proprietary catalysts, so they increase newsflow but are unlikely to materially change fundamentals on their own. AmericanBankingNews Head-to-Head
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and balance-sheet/market-pressure factors may be weighing on the stock: DCH sits below its 50?day moving average (~$8.23), average trading volume is higher than today’s volume (suggesting weaker conviction), and the company carries significant leverage (debt/equity ~3.61), which can limit upside and increase downside risk in a weak auto-cycle. DCH Price & Metrics

American Axle & Manufacturing Company Profile

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AXL) is a global designer, engineer and manufacturer of driveline and drivetrain systems and components for light vehicles, commercial trucks and off-highway applications. The company’s core product portfolio includes axles, driveshafts, half-shafts, drive module assemblies and differential gears, as well as advanced metallic and composite structures for electric and hybrid vehicles. AAM’s capabilities also encompass system testing, rapid prototyping and precision machining to support both high-volume production and low-volume, specialty vehicle applications.

Founded in 1994 following the divestiture of the Detroit Axle Division of General Motors, American Axle & Manufacturing completed its initial public offering in 1998.