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

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.00.

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

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

HOG stock opened at $39.37 on Monday. Harley-Davidson has a 1 year low of $25.43 and a 1 year high of $44.16. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.50.

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

Harley-Davidson declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 19.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Harley-Davidson by 95.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,860,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter worth about $273,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

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.