Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,480,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the March 15th total of 6,850,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on HOG. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Harley-Davidson from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Harley-Davidson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 36,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 56,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 5,377 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 1.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,727,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,454,000 after purchasing an additional 194,089 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 8.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 86,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,496,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 85,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HOG traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.81. 1,775,808 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,556,566. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.43. Harley-Davidson has a fifty-two week low of $25.43 and a fifty-two week high of $44.16.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $791.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $875.29 million. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 22.00% and a net margin of 12.11%. The company’s revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.1725 dividend. This is an increase from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is presently 14.32%.

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.