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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Allison Transmission from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allison Transmission presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

ALSN opened at $99.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.12. Allison Transmission has a 1 year low of $71.49 and a 1 year high of $122.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 2.42.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 47.95% and a net margin of 22.67%. Equities analysts expect that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Allison Transmission’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

Allison Transmission announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto parts company to reacquire up to 57.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.40, for a total value of $216,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,420 shares in the company, valued at $695,928. The trade was a 23.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $437,325.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at $1,360,075.60. The trade was a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Allison Transmission

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 301.1% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,378,731 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $257,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785,687 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Allison Transmission during the fourth quarter worth about $108,916,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Allison Transmission by 4,877.2% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 444,518 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $48,035,000 after buying an additional 435,587 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,081,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,993,015 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,404,025,000 after buying an additional 247,318 shares in the last quarter. 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.