Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HOG. UBS Group upped their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Harley-Davidson by 19.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 51,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Harley-Davidson by 95.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Stock Up 2.9 %

HOG stock opened at $39.37 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.76. The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.44. Harley-Davidson has a 52 week low of $25.43 and a 52 week high of $44.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Harley-Davidson will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 19.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is 15.33%.

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.