Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

HOG has been the subject of several other research reports. Griffin Securities set a $33.00 target price on Harley-Davidson in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Harley-Davidson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harley-Davidson has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.20.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

HOG opened at $26.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.06. Harley-Davidson has a 12-month low of $17.09 and a 12-month high of $28.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.30.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Harley-Davidson will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gayle Littleton bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.38 per share, with a total value of $197,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,850. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jonathan R. Root sold 1,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.43, for a total value of $38,086.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,227.19. This trade represents a 5.93% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders bought 57,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,439,550 and sold 4,667 shares valued at $119,423. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HOG. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 16.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the third quarter valued at approximately $623,000. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 62.4% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 40.1% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 294.6% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 99,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,423,000 after buying an additional 73,946 shares during the period. 85.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.