Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.58.

Several research analysts have issued reports on HOG shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Harley-Davidson from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Harley-Davidson from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Harley-Davidson from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Evercore raised Harley-Davidson from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Harley-Davidson in a research report on Monday, October 26th.

Insider Activity at Harley-Davidson

In other Harley-Davidson news, CFO Jonathan Root sold 1,559 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,733 shares in the company, valued at $604,227.19. This trade represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $249,395,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Harley-Davidson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,966,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Harley-Davidson by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,110,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,675,000 after purchasing an additional 163,762 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,065,000. Finally, Aegis Financial Corp purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,681,000. 85.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HOG opened at $33.91 on Friday. Harley-Davidson has a twelve month low of $17.09 and a twelve month high of $34.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.69, a PEG ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.48.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Harley-Davidson had a negative net margin of 3.31% and a negative return on equity of 4.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.10 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Harley-Davidson will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is currently -70.09%.

About Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson, Inc. designs, manufactures and sells heavyweight motorcycles under the Harley-Davidson brand. Founded in Milwaukee in 1903, the company also offers motorcycle parts, accessories, riding gear and branded apparel. The company serves customers in North America and international markets, including Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Its Harley-Davidson Financial Services business provides financing and insurance products to motorcycle buyers and dealers. Harley-Davidson is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and maintains a majority ownership interest in LiveWire, an electric-motorcycle business.