Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,624 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 10,404 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of Autoliv worth $18,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 holdings in shares of Autoliv by 38.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 276,315 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $25,800,000 after purchasing an additional 76,510 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted 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 buying an additional 48,612 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $12,645,000 after buying an additional 33,490 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Autoliv by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,216 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,821,000 after buying an additional 8,859 shares during the last quarter. 69.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Autoliv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Autoliv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Pareto Securities downgraded Autoliv to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Autoliv from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Autoliv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.23.

Autoliv Price Performance

Autoliv stock opened at $98.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.58. Autoliv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.51 and a 1 year high of $129.38.

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.21. Autoliv had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 28.62%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Autoliv, Inc. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autoliv Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Autoliv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.70%.

Autoliv 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.