Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $29.06 and last traded at $29.1480, with a volume of 1,242,174 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Harley-Davidson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Griffin Securities set a $33.00 target price on shares of Harley-Davidson in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harley-Davidson currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.20.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.56.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 6.28% and a net margin of 4.78%. Harley-Davidson’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is currently 46.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Harley-Davidson

In related news, Director Daniel Nova purchased 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.57 per share, with a total value of $982,800.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 47,605 shares in the company, valued at $1,169,654.85. The trade was a 525.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jonathan Root sold 1,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.43, for a total value of $38,086.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 24,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $604,227.19. This represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders bought 57,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,439,550 and sold 4,667 shares valued at $119,423. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the second quarter worth about $249,395,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $226,966,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Harley-Davidson by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,110,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,675,000 after buying an additional 163,762 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,065,000. Finally, Aegis Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson in the first quarter worth $27,681,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

About Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson, Inc is a Milwaukee-based company that designs, manufactures and sells heavyweight motorcycles. Its product portfolio includes touring, cruiser, standard and adventure-touring motorcycles sold under the Harley-Davidson brand, as well as electric motorcycles offered through its LiveWire business.

The company also provides motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel and related merchandise. Through Harley-Davidson Financial Services, it offers financing and insurance products to motorcycle dealers and retail customers in supported markets.