Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

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

Allison Transmission Price Performance

Shares of ALSN opened at $96.01 on Thursday. Allison Transmission has a 52 week low of $71.49 and a 52 week high of $122.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.16 and a 200-day moving average of $106.31.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.11. Allison Transmission had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 47.95%. As a group, analysts forecast that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Allison Transmission’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Allison Transmission’s dividend payout ratio is 13.00%.

Allison Transmission announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto parts company to buy up to 57.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $695,928. This represents a 23.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $437,325.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. This represents 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 company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Allison Transmission during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. SRH Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Allison Transmission during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Allison Transmission during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.