Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Short Interest Update

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,480,000 shares, an increase of 9.2% from the March 15th total of 6,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HOG. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Harley-Davidson by 47.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,269,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,955,000 after acquiring an additional 410,648 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Harley-Davidson by 29.7% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 10,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,375 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the fourth quarter valued at $3,154,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the third quarter valued at $565,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the third quarter valued at $641,000. 85.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Harley-Davidson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.67.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HOG traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,775,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,566. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.69 and a 200-day moving average of $34.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.43. Harley-Davidson has a 12-month low of $25.43 and a 12-month high of $44.16.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $791.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $875.29 million. Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 12.11% and a return on equity of 22.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This is a boost from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is 14.32%.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

Harley-Davidson, Inc manufactures and sells motorcycles in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Harley-Davidson Motor Company, LiveWire, and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company segment designs, manufactures, and sells motorcycles, including cruiser, trike, touring, standard, sportbike, adventure, and dual sport, as well as motorcycle parts, accessories, and apparel, as well as licenses its trademarks and related services.