Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Stock Lifted to Hold by Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Evercore raised shares of Harley-Davidson from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered Harley-Davidson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Harley-Davidson from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Harley-Davidson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.20.

Harley-Davidson Stock Performance

NYSE HOG opened at $26.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.30. Harley-Davidson has a twelve month low of $17.09 and a twelve month high of $28.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is 46.01%.

Insider Transactions at Harley-Davidson

In other news, CAO Gayle Littleton acquired 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.38 per share, for a total transaction of $197,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $197,850. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jonathan Root sold 1,559 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.43, for a total value of $38,086.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,227.19. This represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 57,500 shares of company stock worth $1,439,550 and sold 4,667 shares worth $119,423. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 1.8% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 28,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 62.4% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 2.5% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 24,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 40.1% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 4.2% during the second quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 16,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

Harley-Davidson, Inc is a motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, the company designs, manufactures and sells heavyweight motorcycles known for their cruiser, touring and adventure-touring models, as well as related parts, accessories, apparel and merchandise.

The company markets its products under the Harley-Davidson brand through a network of independent dealers and company-operated retail locations. Its offerings serve customers in the United States and international markets across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Canada and other regions.

Harley-Davidson also provides motorcycle financing and insurance-related services through Harley-Davidson Financial Services.