Royal Bank of Canada Maintains Sector Perform Rating for American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL – Get Free Report) recently had its "sector perform" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Tuesday. According to Benzinga, they have set a target price of $6.00 for the company's stock. This target indicates a potential upside of about 2.65% from its last closing price.

Several other firms have also recently weighed in on AXL. StockNews.com downgraded American Axle & Manufacturing's shares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating on Monday. Meanwhile, Barclays reduced its price target for the shares from $8.00 to $7.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating in a report dated January 22nd. Additionally, on Tuesday, UBS Group lowered its price target from $6.50 to $6.00 while assigning a "neutral" rating to the stock. Currently, one analyst has rated the stock as a sell, while seven others have given it a hold rating. As reported by MarketBeat.com, the average rating for American Axle & Manufacturing is "Hold" with an average target price of $6.75.

Stock Performance Overview

On Tuesday, shares of AXL opened at $5.85. The stock has seen a 52-week low of $4.70 and a high of $8.20. With a market capitalization of $687.26 million, American Axle & Manufacturing reports a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.94. The company's 50-day simple moving average is recorded at $5.68, while the 200-day simple moving average stands at $6.05. Additionally, American Axle has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 1.25, and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Axle & Manufacturing released its quarterly earnings report on February 14th. The auto parts manufacturer reported an earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.06), which met analysts' expectations. The company's revenue for the quarter was $1.38 billion, slightly below the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. Its net margin stood at 0.57%, and the return on equity was 10.44%. This is a decrease of 5.6% in revenue compared to the same period last year, when the company had an EPS of ($0.09). Analysts predict that American Axle & Manufacturing will deliver an EPS of 0.52 for the current financial year.

Institutional Investors and Trading Activity

In recent times, institutional investors and hedge funds have made significant adjustments to their stakes in American Axle & Manufacturing. KBC Group NV increased its holdings by 81.3% in the third quarter, now owning 7,160 shares valued at approximately $44,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211 shares. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake worth about $51,000 in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. also established a new position valued at approximately $59,000. Other notable acquisitions include Ground Swell Capital LLC and XTX Topco Ltd, both of which made new investments worth roughly $61,000 and $62,000, respectively. Currently, institutional investors hold a significant 91.41% of the company's stock.

About American Axle & Manufacturing

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. specializes in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. The company operates through two main segments: Driveline and Metal Forming. The Driveline segment includes a variety of products such as axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, along with electric and hybrid driveline products and systems designed for light trucks, utility service vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles.

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