American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $7.00 target price on American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Axle & Manufacturing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.08.

American Axle & Manufacturing Stock Up 4.8%

NYSE:AXL opened at $7.85 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $932.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. American Axle & Manufacturing has a 1-year low of $3.00 and a 1-year high of $7.86.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The auto parts company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. American Axle & Manufacturing had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 0.72%.The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Axle & Manufacturing

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 351.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 125,114 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 97,377 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in American Axle & Manufacturing by 81.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 180,685 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 80,957 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in American Axle & Manufacturing during the third quarter worth approximately $101,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in American Axle & Manufacturing during the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 70.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,435,065 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,977 shares during the period. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Axle & Manufacturing Company Profile

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc (NYSE: AXL) is a global designer, engineer and manufacturer of driveline and drivetrain systems and components for light vehicles, commercial trucks and off-highway applications. The company’s core product portfolio includes axles, driveshafts, half-shafts, drive module assemblies and differential gears, as well as advanced metallic and composite structures for electric and hybrid vehicles. AAM’s capabilities also encompass system testing, rapid prototyping and precision machining to support both high-volume production and low-volume, specialty vehicle applications.

Founded in 1994 following the divestiture of the Detroit Axle Division of General Motors, American Axle & Manufacturing completed its initial public offering in 1998.