American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.9167.

AXL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Axle & Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing from $8.50 to $10.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $7.00 target price on shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in a research note on Monday, December 8th.

American Axle & Manufacturing Price Performance

AXL opened at $7.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $947.23 million, a P/E ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 1.58. American Axle & Manufacturing has a 12 month low of $3.00 and a 12 month high of $8.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.17.

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The auto parts company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that American Axle & Manufacturing will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in American Axle & Manufacturing by 267.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,383 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,191 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing by 825.6% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,979 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 6,225 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in the second quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of American Axle & Manufacturing in the third quarter worth $50,000. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

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.