Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, a drop of 15.2% from the February 28th total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 837,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company's shares are short sold.

Autoliv Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE ALV traded down $3.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $80.82. The company had a trading volume of 916,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 789,501. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.30. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.59. Autoliv has a one year low of $78.00 and a one year high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. On average, equities analysts expect that Autoliv will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Autoliv's payout ratio is 34.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Per Jonas Jademyr sold 401 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.85, for a total value of $39,638.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,712.25. This trade represents a 36.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Fredrik Westin sold 1,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $178,839.57. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $720,218.59. This trade represents a 19.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,253 shares of company stock worth $915,534 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autoliv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALV. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 987,375 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $92,221,000 after acquiring an additional 95,888 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Autoliv by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 276,315 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $25,800,000 after buying an additional 76,510 shares during the last quarter. Lancaster Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Lancaster Investment Management now owns 568,821 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $53,350,000 after buying an additional 85,732 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Autoliv by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 135,424 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $12,645,000 after buying an additional 33,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in Autoliv in the 4th quarter valued at about $394,000. Institutional investors own 69.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. HSBC downgraded Autoliv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Autoliv from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $117.14.

Autoliv Company Profile

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.