Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.27 Per Share

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.27 per share by the auto parts company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Allison Transmission's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25.

Allison Transmission has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.6% annually over the last three years. Allison Transmission has a payout ratio of 9.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Allison Transmission to earn $10.06 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.9%.

Allison Transmission Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ALSN traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.76. 667,829 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 694,615. The company has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $111.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Allison Transmission has a one year low of $71.35 and a one year high of $122.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. On average, analysts predict that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Allison Transmission

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total transaction of $216,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,420 shares in the company, valued at $695,928. This represents a 23.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David S. Graziosi sold 1,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.26, for a total value of $207,207.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,303,856.58. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,639 shares of company stock worth $2,448,077 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Allison Transmission announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to purchase up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALSN. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Allison Transmission from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.75.

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.