Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HOG shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Baird R W lowered Harley-Davidson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered Harley-Davidson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

Harley-Davidson Stock Down 7.2 %

Shares of NYSE HOG opened at $31.67 on Friday. Harley-Davidson has a one year low of $25.43 and a one year high of $44.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.44.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Harley-Davidson will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is 15.33%.

Harley-Davidson declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 19.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,428,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $587,372,000 after buying an additional 452,536 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 12.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,248,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,576,000 after buying an additional 708,260 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 17.3% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,705,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,372,000 after buying an additional 842,407 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 42.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,263,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,932,000 after buying an additional 678,092 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 5.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 647,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,929,000 after buying an additional 30,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

About Harley-Davidson

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.