Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on HOG. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Harley-Davidson from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Griffin Securities set a $33.00 target price on shares of Harley-Davidson in a report on Monday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.44.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

HOG stock opened at $24.76 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 1.29. Harley-Davidson has a 52-week low of $17.09 and a 52-week high of $29.22.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 6.28% and a net margin of 4.78%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harley-Davidson

In other Harley-Davidson news, CFO Jonathan R. Root sold 1,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.46, for a total value of $42,672.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,292 shares in the company, valued at $721,978.32. The trade was a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Artie Starrs acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.89 per share, for a total transaction of $258,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $647,250. This trade represents a 66.67% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 57,500 shares of company stock worth $1,439,550. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HOG. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Harley-Davidson by 858.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 1,758.9% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,779 shares in the last quarter. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson, Inc is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based motorcycle company founded in 1903. Through its Harley-Davidson Motor Company business, it designs, manufactures and sells heavyweight motorcycles known for their touring, cruiser and performance-oriented models. The company also markets motorcycle parts, accessories, riding gear, apparel and branded merchandise.

Harley-Davidson sells its products through a network of independently owned dealerships and other distribution channels in North America and international markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.