Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Buys 513,542 Shares of Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) by 132.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 900,891 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 513,542 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Polaris were worth $51,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Polaris by 386.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Polaris in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Polaris by 295.4% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in Polaris by 187.4% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Polaris by 232.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Polaris Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PII opened at $43.19 on Friday. Polaris Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.29 and a fifty-two week high of $100.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.19 and a 200 day moving average of $61.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Polaris Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Polaris’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Polaris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PII has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Polaris from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Polaris from $67.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Polaris in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Polaris from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Polaris from $76.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.83.

Polaris Profile

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.