Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Short Interest Up 32.6% in February

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,920,000 shares, a growth of 32.6% from the January 31st total of 10,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,830,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.6 days. Currently, 11.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HOG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Harley-Davidson from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Harley-Davidson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.57.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HOG opened at $25.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Harley-Davidson has a twelve month low of $23.82 and a twelve month high of $44.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $27.66 and its 200-day moving average is $32.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.54, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.46.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.28). Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Harley-Davidson will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.62%.

Insider Activity at Harley-Davidson

In other Harley-Davidson news, insider Luke Christopher Mansfield sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total transaction of $88,264.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,487.80. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson in the fourth quarter worth $5,294,000. Brickwood Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,783,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 630,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,012,000 after purchasing an additional 240,411 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 5,059 shares during the period. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter worth $783,000. 85.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.