Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) Short Interest Update

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) saw a large growth in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily volume of 1,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days. Approximately 12.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Polaris

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PII. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Polaris by 67.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Polaris by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 68,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,728,000 after buying an additional 7,198 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Polaris by 2,431.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Polaris during the 3rd quarter worth $366,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Polaris by 1,309.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 13,147 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Polaris Price Performance

Shares of PII traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $45.08. 869,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,099,572. Polaris has a one year low of $42.85 and a one year high of $100.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.10 and a 200-day moving average of $68.91.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Polaris will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PII has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Polaris from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of 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 dropped their price objective on Polaris from $67.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Polaris from $65.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Polaris from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.17.

About Polaris

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.