Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at DA Davidson

DA Davidson upgraded shares of Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Harley-Davidson from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Harley-Davidson from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Harley-Davidson from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HOG opened at $23.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 7.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.28. Harley-Davidson has a fifty-two week low of $20.45 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.34 and a 200-day moving average of $29.90.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced 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 net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total value of $88,264.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,487.80. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Harley-Davidson by 172.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 49,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

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.