Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Stock Rating Lowered by Baird R W

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Baird R W from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Harley-Davidson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Harley-Davidson from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.43.

Harley-Davidson Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE HOG opened at $35.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 7.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.44. Harley-Davidson has a one year low of $25.43 and a one year high of $44.16.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.23. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Harley-Davidson’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Harley-Davidson will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HOG. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Harley-Davidson by 2.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 74,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in Harley-Davidson by 4.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC lifted its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 85.9% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 12,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 5,825 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Harley-Davidson by 1,179.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 270,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,048,000 after acquiring an additional 248,986 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the second quarter worth about $690,000. 85.10% of the stock is 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.