Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $34.65 and last traded at $34.3910, with a volume of 111,112 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HOG shares. Loop Capital upgraded Harley-Davidson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Harley-Davidson in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Harley-Davidson in a report on Friday, October 30th. Evercore raised shares of Harley-Davidson from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.91.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.40 and a 200 day moving average of $24.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.07). Harley-Davidson had a negative return on equity of 4.26% and a negative net margin of 3.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio is presently -70.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Harley-Davidson news, CFO Jonathan R. Root sold 1,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.43, for a total transaction of $38,086.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 24,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,227.19. The trade was a 5.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Artie Starrs acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.89 per share, for a total transaction of $258,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $647,250. The trade was a 66.67% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $249,395,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter worth $226,966,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson in the second quarter valued at about $45,065,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Harley-Davidson by 8.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,110,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,675,000 after purchasing an additional 163,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aegis Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 1st quarter valued at $27,681,000. 85.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

Harley-Davidson, Inc is a Milwaukee-based company that designs, manufactures and sells heavyweight motorcycles. Its product portfolio includes touring, cruiser, standard and adventure-touring motorcycles sold under the Harley-Davidson brand, as well as electric motorcycles offered through its LiveWire business.

The company also provides motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel and related merchandise. Through Harley-Davidson Financial Services, it offers financing and insurance products to motorcycle dealers and retail customers in supported markets.