StockNews.com Lowers Polaris (NYSE:PII) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Polaris (NYSE:PII) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Polaris from $103.00 to $97.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Polaris in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Longbow Research upgraded Polaris from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Polaris in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a neutral rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Polaris from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Polaris currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $100.27.

Polaris Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PII opened at $83.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.61. Polaris has a 1 year low of $82.00 and a 1 year high of $138.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $91.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.85.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Polaris had a return on equity of 31.39% and a net margin of 4.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Polaris will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Polaris Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Polaris’s payout ratio is 38.71%.

Institutional Trading of Polaris

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PII. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Polaris during the 1st quarter valued at about $108,890,000. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in shares of Polaris in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Polaris by 276.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 363,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,845,000 after buying an additional 266,887 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Polaris by 151.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 424,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,168,000 after buying an additional 255,777 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Polaris by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,477,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,993,000 after buying an additional 202,794 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.