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

Shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on HOG. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Baird R W cut shares of Harley-Davidson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded Harley-Davidson from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Harley-Davidson Stock Down 0.6 %

HOG stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 343,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,644. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.15. Harley-Davidson has a 12 month low of $25.43 and a 12 month high of $44.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Harley-Davidson will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Harley-Davidson's dividend payout ratio is 15.33%.

Harley-Davidson announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 19.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 3.5% during the 1st 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 during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 42.7% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 80,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 23,958 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,705,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $191,372,000 after purchasing an additional 842,407 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 33.3% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 124,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,468,000 after buying an additional 31,205 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Harley-Davidson by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,008 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.