Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

ALSN has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Allison Transmission in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an equal weight rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Allison Transmission from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Allison Transmission from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Allison Transmission from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Allison Transmission from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allison Transmission presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $71.71.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

Shares of ALSN opened at $76.09 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.51. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.03. Allison Transmission has a 12-month low of $45.36 and a 12-month high of $83.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.37 million. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 58.05% and a net margin of 21.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Allison Transmission will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This is a positive change from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.35%.

Insider Transactions at Allison Transmission

In other Allison Transmission news, VP Dana Jh Pittard sold 2,686 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.84, for a total transaction of $195,648.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $374,616.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Dana Jh Pittard sold 2,686 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.84, for a total value of $195,648.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,616.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 2,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.40, for a total value of $195,889.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,456 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,982.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,843 shares of company stock worth $6,244,562 in the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allison Transmission

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALSN. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 1,706.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 542 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Allison Transmission by 256.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 592 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Allison Transmission by 222.5% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 603 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Allison Transmission by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 706 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Allison Transmission by 1,538.6% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 721 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

About Allison Transmission

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells fully automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles and medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles, and electrified propulsion systems worldwide. It provides commercial-duty on-highway, off-highway and defense fully automatic transmissions, and electric hybrid and fully electric systems.