Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Stock Price

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on HOG. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Harley-Davidson from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.57.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

HOG traded down $1.02 on Thursday, reaching $25.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,318,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,364,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.40. Harley-Davidson has a 52-week low of $25.25 and a 52-week high of $44.16. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.53.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.28). Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 9.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Harley-Davidson's payout ratio is currently 20.72%.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 22,680.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,182,864 shares of the company's stock worth $161,166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,164,502 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Harley-Davidson in the fourth quarter worth $18,802,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Harley-Davidson by 559.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 394,680 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,207,000 after buying an additional 334,830 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 135.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 282,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,900,000 after buying an additional 162,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,470,130 shares of the company's stock worth $44,295,000 after buying an additional 157,939 shares during the period. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.