Short Interest in Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA) Decreases By 53.3%

Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA - Get Free Report) TSE: MG saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,400,000 shares, a decline of 53.3% from the February 28th total of 15,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MGA. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Magna International by 158.1% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,561,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,953 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Magna International by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,395,373 shares of the company's stock worth $100,087,000 after purchasing an additional 822,375 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Magna International by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,627,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,810,000 after buying an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Magna International by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,523,196 shares of the company's stock worth $63,280,000 after buying an additional 371,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. increased its stake in Magna International by 72.1% during the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 412,454 shares of the company's stock worth $17,228,000 after buying an additional 172,754 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.49% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MGA. Bank of America lowered Magna International from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Magna International from $44.00 to $36.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Magna International from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Magna International from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Magna International from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.03.

Magna International Stock Performance

NYSE MGA traded down $0.03 on Monday, reaching $33.97. 1,906,266 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,720,872. Magna International has a fifty-two week low of $33.29 and a fifty-two week high of $54.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.88.

Magna International (NYSE:MGA - Get Free Report) TSE: MG last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.23. Magna International had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $10.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Magna International's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Magna International will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Magna International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Magna International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. Magna International's payout ratio is 55.27%.

Magna International Company Profile

Magna International Inc designs, engineers, and manufactures components, assemblies, systems, subsystems, and modules for original equipment manufacturers of vehicles and light trucks worldwide. It operates through four segments: Body Exteriors & Structures, Power & Vision, Seating Systems, and Complete Vehicles.