American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $4.75, but opened at $5.32. American Axle & Manufacturing shares last traded at $5.13, with a volume of 1,799,325 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXL. Barclays lowered their target price on American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.75.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $680.21 million, a PE ratio of 24.10 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.70 and a 200 day moving average of $6.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.28, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The auto parts company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). American Axle & Manufacturing had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Creative Planning bought a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing during the 3rd quarter valued at $80,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 540.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 199,514 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 168,348 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 29,405 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.41% of the company's stock.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. It operates through the Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment consists of axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, service utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.