American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Separately, UBS Group began coverage on American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Performance

AXL opened at $7.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $866.24 million, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 2.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.14 and a 200-day moving average of $7.80. American Axle & Manufacturing has a 52-week low of $6.61 and a 52-week high of $11.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.71.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The auto parts company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.04. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 6.07% and a net margin of 0.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Axle & Manufacturing

In related news, VP Terri M. Kemp sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 216,961 shares in the company, valued at $1,735,688. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American Axle & Manufacturing

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 60,578.4% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,169,820 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,398,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162,948 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in American Axle & Manufacturing during the first quarter worth about $22,541,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 804.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,835,148 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $13,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632,158 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Axle & Manufacturing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,125,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in American Axle & Manufacturing by 22.1% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,959,930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,729,000 after acquiring an additional 715,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.41% of the company’s stock.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, and manufactures driveline and metal forming technologies that supports electric, hybrid, and internal combustion vehicles. It operates through Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment offers front and rear axles, driveshafts, differential assemblies, clutch modules, balance shaft systems, disconnecting driveline technology, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, sport utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.