Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) Short Interest Update

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,060,000 shares, a growth of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 6,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 15.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Polaris by 19.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Polaris by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 28,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Polaris by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 22,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Polaris by 187.4% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Polaris by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Polaris Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:PII traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.18. 782,403 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,735,277. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.54. Polaris has a fifty-two week low of $39.29 and a fifty-two week high of $100.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Polaris will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Polaris’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Polaris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Polaris from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Polaris from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Polaris from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Polaris in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Polaris from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.83.

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.