Polaris (NYSE:PII) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after DA Davidson lowered their price target on the stock from $69.00 to $60.00. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock. Polaris traded as low as $51.17 and last traded at $51.26, with a volume of 3997969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.52.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PII. StockNews.com cut Polaris from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp lowered Polaris from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Polaris from $84.00 to $72.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Polaris from $76.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Polaris from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Polaris

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PII. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Polaris by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,262,990 shares of the company's stock worth $188,371,000 after purchasing an additional 69,844 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Polaris by 0.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,039,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,516,000 after buying an additional 6,724 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Polaris by 44.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 555,410 shares of the company's stock worth $46,232,000 after acquiring an additional 171,366 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in Polaris by 9.9% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 229,565 shares of the company's stock worth $19,109,000 after acquiring an additional 20,695 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Polaris by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 221,481 shares of the company's stock worth $18,436,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Polaris Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.53. The business's 50-day moving average price is $59.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.81.

Polaris (NYSE:PII - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Polaris Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. This is a positive change from Polaris's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Polaris's dividend payout ratio is currently 134.69%.

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.