Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $128.03 and last traded at $127.84, with a volume of 560888 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $125.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ALV shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Autoliv from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Autoliv in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Autoliv in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Autoliv from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.00.

Autoliv Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.88.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The auto parts company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.14. Autoliv had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 6.83%.The company had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 733 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 46.1% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 88,709 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $9,927,000 after buying an additional 27,997 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 48.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,647 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. Finally, Manhattan West Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 30,538 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

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.