Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Baird R W lowered shares of Harley-Davidson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Harley-Davidson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.57.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Shares of HOG stock opened at $32.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.10. Harley-Davidson has a 12 month low of $29.67 and a 12 month high of $44.16.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is 15.54%.

Harley-Davidson declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 19.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Harley-Davidson

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 4,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $137,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,405.75. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HOG. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 46.8% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Harley-Davidson by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Harley-Davidson by 19.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

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.