Polaris (NYSE:PII) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $37.14 and last traded at $37.25, with a volume of 680447 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Polaris from $69.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Polaris from $76.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Polaris from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Polaris in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Polaris from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.50.

Polaris Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.54.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts forecast that Polaris Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is a boost from Polaris’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Polaris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PII. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Polaris by 74.0% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 35,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,071,000 after acquiring an additional 15,283 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Polaris by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 116,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,701,000 after purchasing an additional 14,790 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Polaris during the fourth quarter worth about $21,776,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Polaris by 371.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 28,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 22,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Polaris by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 776,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,740,000 after purchasing an additional 241,926 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Polaris Company 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.