American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Stock Price Down 4.8% – Here’s What Happened

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL)’s stock price dropped 4.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $4.44 and last traded at $4.42. Approximately 411,635 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,596,179 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Axle & Manufacturing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.69.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $522.65 million, a PE ratio of 15.88 and a beta of 1.85.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last issued 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 0.57% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXL. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 201.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,246,559 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $7,267,000 after buying an additional 832,726 shares during the period. Lonestar Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Axle & Manufacturing in the fourth quarter valued at $3,893,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 546.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,569 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,586,000 after acquiring an additional 664,922 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 31.8% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,273,917 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,053,000 after acquiring an additional 548,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitebox Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,892,723 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $11,035,000 after acquiring an additional 477,550 shares in the last quarter. 91.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Axle & Manufacturing Company Profile

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.