More Optimism Driving Dana

When I wrote about Dana Holding Corp. (NYSE:DAN) back in February, I thought that the shares were undervalued and leveraged to a change in sentiment. I didn't think sentiment would change so far so fast, though, and the shares are up almost 30% since then. That's on par with fellow mixed light and commercial vehicle components company Tenneco (NYSE:TEN), and better than Allison (NYSE:ALSN) and BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA), not to mention American Axle (NYSE:AXL).

Even though commercial and off-highway vehicles are still about 40% of the business (and still pretty weak), the market seems to be feeling better about these markets now. Looking specifically at Dana, the company is leveraged to light vehicle programs like the Ford (NYSE:F) Super Duty and Jeep Wrangler that could fare relatively well in the coming years and is also skewed more toward medium-duty commercial vehicles (which have held up better than heavy duty).

These shares do still look undervalued, and the upcoming analyst day in November is a chance to "rally the troops" on Wall Street and build on the momentum that has driven the stock since the summer.

Click the link to continue:
More Optimism Driving Dana

Seeking Alpha: Dana Holding Finding It Hard To Hold Onto Growth

It's been a rough 12 months for the vehicle components space, as investors have started worrying about whether passenger vehicle growth will prove sustainable in North America and the EU, while commercial vehicle demand rolls over and off-highway vehicle demand remains moribund. Of the companies I pay the most attention to, Dana (NYSE:DAN) has been among the weakest performers as the company has significant exposure to the weakening/weak commercial and off-highway markets and additional market share concerns as well.

When it comes to the valuation, Dana is probably undervalued today but it is difficult to defend a company with a track record of more earnings misses than beats, heavy exposure to weak markets and geographies, and relatively weak prospects for leveraging unique technology into significant margin or return outperformance. If Dana can boost its long-term free cash flow margins above 4%, it takes less than 3% annual revenue growth to support a $14.50 fair value. That said, sentiment is pretty sour here (only Cummins (NYSE:CMI) appears worse in the group I follow closely), so a run of outperformance, however unlikely that may be, would be a powerful driver for the shares provided it is enough to convince the doubters to get more bullish.

Continue here:
Dana Holding Finding It Hard To Hold Onto Growth

Seeking Alpha: Dana Holding Needs To Ride Multiple Cycles

As someone whose body type is more manatee than mako shark, I've never had that much interest in surfing, but I do appreciate the skill that goes into finding the right wave and then riding it all the way in to shore. Maybe I'm stretching the metaphor a little too far here, but I think Dana Holding (NYSE:DAN) needs to do the same now, as investors are clearly concerned about the risk that supportive light vehicle and commercial vehicle cycles in North America are peaking, and other sectors are not in a state to pick up the slack.

I was lukewarm on the stock back in September, and the performance since then hasn't been great (down about 7%). Plenty of other auto and truck components companies have seen their stocks struggle to make much headway (let alone outperform), and I don't think there's anything particularly wrong here. While some of its valuation multiples suggest a relative bargain, and the company does have more going on in terms of product development than it often gets credit for, I don't see so much of a discount here to make this a must-own at a time when a lot of investors appear nervous about the sector.

Read the full article here:
Dana Holding Needs To Ride Multiple Cycles

Seeking Alpha: Dana Holding Still Good, But Not So Cheap

Back in the spring of this year, I thought Dana Holding (NYSE:DAN) looked like a good name to own in the commercial vehicle components/parts space. Since then, the shares have outperformed a range of rivals and comps, including American Axle (NYSE:AXL), Federal Mogul (NASDAQ:FDML), GKN plc (OTCPK:GKNLY), and Cummins (NYSE:CMI) (a commercial vehicle comp, but not a competitor), but have lagged the S&P 500 in part due to weaker-than-expected demand for trucks in South America and weaker global demand for ag equipment. I still believe there's a solid margin improvement story here (one that management is delivering), leverage to emerging market growth, and the potential for value-adding M&A, but the undervaluation of the shares isn't enough to call it a must-buy today.

Follow this link to continue:
Dana Holding Still Good, But Not So Cheap

Seeking Alpha: Dana Doing Well, And The Cycle May Be Getting Better

Dana Holdings Corp's (DAN) strong 2013 momentum broke in a big way in late October when the company warned that revenue and EBITDA would come in about 4% to 6% lower than expected. Weaker commercial/off-highway markets and emerging market currencies shouldn't have been such a big surprise, but expectations were rising and Dana management has had some challenges with short-term forecasting.

Dana has regained a lot of the lost ground since then, but more could still be in store. The company is still not getting full credit for its margin expansion intentions, nor the potential to increase its mix of profitable business as cyclical markets swing back to the positive. It is difficult to trust any vehicle components/parts manufacturer as a long-term holding, but Dana is worth a look for readers who believe that commercial, off-highway, and passenger vehicle markets could be looking at better days.

Read the full article at Seeking Alpha:
Dana Doing Well, And The Cycle May Be Getting Better

Seeking Alpha: Can Dana Do What So Few Parts Companies Can?

It hasn't exactly been difficult to find winning auto parts/components stocks over the past year, but Dana (DAN) has nevertheless enjoyed a good run - up more than 80% and within a hair's breadth of its 52-week high as of this writing. There are definitely a lot of things to like about Dana - it has a pretty good balance sheet (for a parts/components company), it has a good recent history of margin improvements, and a very diverse and balanced business.

The question is whether the good times can continue. There are certainly some near-term headwinds. Expectations for light vehicle (LV), commercial vehicle (CV), and off-highway vehicle volume growth in Europe have come down significantly, and growth in key markets like Brazil is still erratic (recently LVs have been weak, while CVs have been strong). What's more, while Dana appears to be on a good path today, the track record of companies in this industry with respect to sustained long-term free cash flow generation is not at all good. Although I do believe Dana still scores well for quality and relative value, the probable free cash flow path is a little less convincing.

Please continue here:
Can Dana Do What So Few Parts Companies Can?

Investopedia: Navistar Is Terrible Today, But That May Not Be Relevant

There was absolutely no reason to think that the fiscal fourth quarter was going to be a good one for truck builder Navistar (NYSE:NAV), and it certainly was not a good one. The real question for investors, though, is whether this company can hit its new product launch targets, streamline its manufacturing process and rebuild the share that management missteps destroyed over the past couple of years. This continues to look like a binary stock to me - if management can direct a real turnaround, the shares will thrive from here, but survival (and success) are far from assured.

Continue reading here:
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/12/navistar-is-terrible-today-but-that-may-not-be-relevant.asp

Investopedia: Dana Looks Like A Name To Know In Parts

These are not easy times to be in the business of supplying parts and components for the passenger vehicle or commercial vehicle markets. Although U.S. auto sales have been quite good of late, business has slowed in Europe and many emerging markets, while numbers and management guidance from a host of truck, agriculture and mining OEMs has pointed to slowing trends as well.

Against that backdrop, I still think it is worthwhile for investors to take a closer look at Dana Holdings (NYSE:DAN). Numbers have come down a bit, and there are definitely risks in end-user demand for 2013, but this company's diversification across geographies, end markets, technologies and customers makes it a differentiated parts and components company. Coupled with a valuation that does not seem demanding, the stock is likewise interesting at these levels.

To read more, please follow this link:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Dana-Looks-Like-A-Name-To-Know-In-Parts-DAN-AXL-MTOR-F0928.aspx