Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA) Short Interest Update

Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA) (TSE:MG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,400,000 shares, a decrease of 53.3% from the February 28th total of 15,830,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magna International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MGA. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Magna International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Magna International by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Magna International by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Magna International by 2,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Magna International by 2,126.5% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. 67.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Magna International Price Performance

NYSE MGA traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.00. 1,654,827 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,720,084. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.65. Magna International has a one year low of $33.30 and a one year high of $54.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.03 and a 200-day moving average of $40.87.

Magna International (NYSE:MGA) (TSE:MG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.23. Magna International had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $10.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Magna International’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Magna International will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Magna International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. This is an increase from Magna International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Magna International’s payout ratio is 55.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MGA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Magna International from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Magna International from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Magna International from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Magna International from $44.00 to $36.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Magna International from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.03.

Magna International Company Profile

Magna International Inc designs, engineers, and manufactures components, assemblies, systems, subsystems, and modules for original equipment manufacturers of vehicles and light trucks worldwide. It operates through four segments: Body Exteriors & Structures, Power & Vision, Seating Systems, and Complete Vehicles.