Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on HOG. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird upped 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, May 14th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Griffin Securities set a $34.00 target price on shares of Harley-Davidson in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Harley-Davidson Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE HOG opened at $28.77 on Monday. Harley-Davidson has a 12 month low of $20.45 and a 12 month high of $39.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.96 and a 200-day moving average of $24.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.29.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.11). Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Harley-Davidson will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Harley-Davidson

In other news, Director Rafeh Masood acquired 2,068 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.06 per share, with a total value of $49,756.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,202.30. The trade was a 78.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HOG. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in Harley-Davidson by 61.8% in the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 5,517,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,220,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108,099 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,884,000. Brickwood Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,783,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the second quarter valued at approximately $21,607,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Harley-Davidson by 30.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,838,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,389,000 after acquiring an additional 426,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Company Profile

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.