Polaris (NYSE:PII) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $67.00 to $48.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Polaris traded as low as $43.20 and last traded at $43.56, with a volume of 6337073 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.70.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Polaris from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Polaris in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Polaris from $84.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Polaris from $65.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Polaris from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.17.

Institutional Trading of Polaris

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Polaris by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 776,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,740,000 after acquiring an additional 241,926 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Polaris by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 555,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,232,000 after buying an additional 171,366 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Polaris in the third quarter worth $12,670,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Polaris in the third quarter valued at $10,844,000. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Polaris by 147.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP now owns 154,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,877,000 after acquiring an additional 92,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Polaris Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.59 and its 200 day moving average is $70.99.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. Polaris had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 1.54%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Polaris Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Polaris’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.91%. Polaris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.73%.

Polaris Company Profile

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.