Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $29.06 and last traded at $29.1480, with a volume of 1,242,174 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Harley-Davidson from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Harley-Davidson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Griffin Securities set a $33.00 target price on Harley-Davidson in a research note on Monday, August 17th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Harley-Davidson from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Harley-Davidson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harley-Davidson presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.20.

Harley-Davidson Stock Up 6.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.30.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 6.28% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harley-Davidson

In other news, CFO Jonathan R. Root sold 1,559 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.43, for a total value of $38,086.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 24,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,227.19. This represents a 5.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Artie Starrs bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.89 per share, for a total transaction of $258,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $647,250. This represents a 66.67% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 57,500 shares of company stock worth $1,439,550 and sold 4,667 shares worth $119,423. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HOG. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the second quarter worth about $29,000. CX Institutional raised its position in Harley-Davidson by 62.4% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 858.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

Harley-Davidson, Inc is a Milwaukee-based company that designs, manufactures and sells heavyweight motorcycles. Its product portfolio includes touring, cruiser, standard and adventure-touring motorcycles sold under the Harley-Davidson brand, as well as electric motorcycles offered through its LiveWire business.

The company also provides motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel and related merchandise. Through Harley-Davidson Financial Services, it offers financing and insurance products to motorcycle dealers and retail customers in supported markets.