Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Harley-Davidson from “hold” to “sell,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $27.44.
• Harley-Davidson beat quarterly expectations with $0.75 in EPS versus $0.65 expected and $1.23 billion in revenue, although revenue declined 5.9% year over year.
• The stock opened at $25.50, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.65 billion; institutional investors own 85.10% of outstanding shares, while recent insider activity included both executive purchases and a CFO sale.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

HOG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Harley-Davidson from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Harley-Davidson in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Harley-Davidson from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Harley-Davidson currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.44.

Harley-Davidson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HOG opened at $25.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.90. Harley-Davidson has a twelve month low of $17.09 and a twelve month high of $29.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.81 and a 200-day moving average of $24.46. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.29.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 6.28% and a net margin of 4.78%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Harley-Davidson will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Harley-Davidson

In related news, CFO Jonathan Root sold 1,554 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.46, for a total transaction of $42,672.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $721,978.32. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Gayle Littleton acquired 7,500 shares of Harley-Davidson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.38 per share, for a total transaction of $197,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $197,850. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 57,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,439,550 and have sold 4,662 shares valued at $119,316. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HOG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $249,395,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the second quarter worth $226,966,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $42,675,000 after purchasing an additional 163,762 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the second quarter valued at $45,065,000. Finally, Aegis Financial Corp bought a new position in Harley-Davidson during the 1st quarter worth $27,681,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company's stock.

About Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson, Inc is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based motorcycle company founded in 1903. Through its Harley-Davidson Motor Company business, it designs, manufactures and sells heavyweight motorcycles known for their touring, cruiser and performance-oriented models. The company also markets motorcycle parts, accessories, riding gear, apparel and branded merchandise.

Harley-Davidson sells its products through a network of independently owned dealerships and other distribution channels in North America and international markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

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