Harley-Davidson Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:HOG)

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 5,076 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 51% compared to the average volume of 3,360 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HOG. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Harley-Davidson from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Harley-Davidson from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Harley-Davidson Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of Harley-Davidson stock opened at $22.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $25.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.77, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.28. 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 12-month low of $20.45 and a 12-month high of $40.51.

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

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is 21.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Luke Christopher Mansfield sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total transaction of $88,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,487.80. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HOG. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Harley-Davidson in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,368,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,468,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,225 shares in the last quarter. Brickwood Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,783,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,802,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Harley-Davidson by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,496,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,352,000 after purchasing an additional 435,200 shares during the last quarter. 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.