BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA) Short Interest Up 9.7% in December

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,600,000 shares, an increase of 9.7% from the November 30th total of 8,750,000 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

BorgWarner Stock Performance

NYSE BWA opened at $31.64 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.46. The company has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.19. BorgWarner has a 1-year low of $29.51 and a 1-year high of $38.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The auto parts company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.17. BorgWarner had a return on equity of 15.51% and a net margin of 6.33%. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BorgWarner will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BorgWarner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. BorgWarner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

Insider Transactions at BorgWarner

In other news, VP Stefan Demmerle sold 20,544 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.28, for a total transaction of $704,248.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 206,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,094,897.32. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Frederic Lissalde sold 154,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.61, for a total transaction of $5,329,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 259,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,997,111.77. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 222,010 shares of company stock worth $7,678,076. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in BorgWarner by 3.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,840 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $9,502,000 after buying an additional 7,559 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in BorgWarner by 292.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 253,625 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $8,986,000 after purchasing an additional 189,081 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in BorgWarner by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 107,336 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in BorgWarner in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in shares of BorgWarner by 8.4% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,100 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. 95.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BWA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on BorgWarner in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on BorgWarner from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BorgWarner from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of BorgWarner from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BorgWarner from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.07.

BorgWarner Company Profile

BorgWarner Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery heaters, and battery charging.