KBC Group NV Grows Stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 67.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,182 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Autoliv were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALV. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 95,888 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Autoliv by 38.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 276,315 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $25,800,000 after acquiring an additional 76,510 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Autoliv by 1,437.4% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 51,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,855,000 after acquiring an additional 48,612 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Autoliv by 32.9% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 135,424 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $12,645,000 after acquiring an additional 33,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Autoliv by 41.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,216 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 8,859 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.57% of the company’s stock.

Autoliv Stock Performance

NYSE ALV opened at $93.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.77. Autoliv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $89.51 and a 12-month high of $129.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 6.21%. Research analysts expect that Autoliv, Inc. will post 10.05 EPS for the current year.

Autoliv Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Autoliv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALV. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Autoliv from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Autoliv from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.85.

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.