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

Shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.57.

HOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W cut Harley-Davidson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut Harley-Davidson from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 4,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $137,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,405.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Harley-Davidson by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,428,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,372,000 after acquiring an additional 452,536 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Harley-Davidson by 12.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,248,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,576,000 after acquiring an additional 708,260 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Harley-Davidson by 17.3% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,705,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,372,000 after acquiring an additional 842,407 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Harley-Davidson by 42.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,263,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,932,000 after acquiring an additional 678,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Harley-Davidson by 5.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 647,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,929,000 after acquiring an additional 30,725 shares in the last quarter. 85.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harley-Davidson Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE HOG opened at $33.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.24. Harley-Davidson has a 52 week low of $26.40 and a 52 week high of $44.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Harley-Davidson announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is 15.54%.

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.