Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Short Interest Up 32.6% in February

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,920,000 shares, a growth of 32.6% from the January 31st total of 10,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,830,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.6 days. Approximately 11.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on HOG. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harley-Davidson from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.57.

Harley-Davidson Stock Performance

Shares of HOG stock traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $24.18. The stock had a trading volume of 2,920,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,467. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $27.77 and its 200 day moving average is $32.29. Harley-Davidson has a twelve month low of $23.86 and a twelve month high of $44.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 7.26, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.46.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.28). Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 9.25%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Harley-Davidson will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Harley-Davidson news, insider Luke Christopher Mansfield sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total value of $88,264.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,555 shares in the company, valued at $611,487.80. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the fourth quarter worth $5,294,000. Brickwood Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the fourth quarter valued at $27,783,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 630,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,012,000 after acquiring an additional 240,411 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 5,059 shares during the period. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the fourth quarter valued at $783,000. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.