Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its position in shares of Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII - Free Report) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,150 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,854 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Polaris worth $7,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PII. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Polaris by 22.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 133,665 shares of the company's stock worth $11,126,000 after purchasing an additional 24,103 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Polaris by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,350 shares of the company's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Polaris by 187.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 388 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Polaris by 545.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,231,000 after buying an additional 22,648 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Polaris by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 103,061 shares of the company's stock worth $8,579,000 after acquiring an additional 10,843 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Polaris in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Polaris from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Polaris from $76.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Baird R W downgraded Polaris from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Polaris from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.64.

Polaris Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of PII traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.74. 728,504 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,064,125. The stock's 50-day moving average is $42.12 and its 200-day moving average is $57.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 1.15. Polaris Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.92 and a fifty-two week high of $91.32. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.32.

Polaris (NYSE:PII - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. Polaris had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 1.54%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Polaris Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Polaris's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.94%. Polaris's payout ratio is presently 136.73%.

About Polaris

Polaris Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets powersports vehicles in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Off-Road, On-Road, and Marine. The company offers off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles and side-by-side vehicles; military and commercial ORVs; snowmobiles; motorcycles; and moto-roadsters, quadricycles, and boats.