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

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

ALSN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley increased 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 target price on Allison Transmission from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Allison Transmission from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allison Transmission presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

Allison Transmission Stock Performance

Allison Transmission stock opened at $99.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.02. Allison Transmission has a 12-month low of $71.49 and a 12-month high of $122.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.12.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The auto parts company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 expect that Allison Transmission will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allison Transmission Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Allison Transmission

In other Allison Transmission news, VP Ryan A. Milburn sold 4,546 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,075.60. The trade was a 24.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,420 shares in the company, valued at $695,928. The trade was a 23.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SRH Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allison Transmission in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Allison Transmission in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Allison Transmission during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Allison Transmission in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.