Short Interest in Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) Increases By 21.8%

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,380,000 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the January 15th total of 5,240,000 shares. Currently, 12.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Polaris Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of PII traded up $0.68 on Monday, reaching $45.08. The stock had a trading volume of 869,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,099,572. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.91. Polaris has a 12-month low of $42.85 and a 12-month high of $100.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. Polaris had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 13.78%. Sell-side analysts predict that Polaris will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from Polaris’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.94%. Polaris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 134.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PII shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Polaris from $84.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Polaris from $67.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Polaris from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Polaris from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Polaris from $65.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.17.

Institutional Trading of Polaris

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Polaris by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,156,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,725,000 after purchasing an additional 388,050 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Polaris by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,642,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,119,000 after acquiring an additional 39,858 shares in the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Polaris by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,775,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,914,000 after acquiring an additional 69,766 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Polaris by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,284,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,609,000 after acquiring an additional 21,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Polaris by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,262,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,371,000 after acquiring an additional 69,844 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Polaris Company Profile

Polaris Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets powersports vehicles in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Off-Road, On-Road, and Marine. The company offers off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles and side-by-side vehicles; military and commercial ORVs; snowmobiles; motorcycles; and moto-roadsters, quadricycles, and boats.