Harley-Davidson, Inc. $HOG Shares Newly Bought by RWC Asset Management LLP

Key Points

• RWC Asset Management acquired 789,678 Harley-Davidson shares in the third quarter, valued at approximately $19.3 million and representing 0.76% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 85.1% of HOG.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but has improved, with Evercore and Citigroup upgrading the stock to positive ratings. MarketBeat reports an overall “Hold” consensus and an average price target of $28.20.
• Harley-Davidson insiders have been net buyers, including CEO Artie Starrs’ purchase of 10,000 shares. The company also reported quarterly EPS of $0.75, exceeding estimates, and pays a $0.75 annualized dividend yielding about 2.6%.

RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 789,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,292,000. RWC Asset Management LLP owned 0.76% of Harley-Davidson as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Harley-Davidson during the second quarter valued at approximately $249,395,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,966,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,065,000. Aegis Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,681,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,347,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore upgraded shares of Harley-Davidson from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Harley-Davidson from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup upgraded Harley-Davidson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Harley-Davidson from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.20.

Insider Activity at Harley-Davidson

In related news, CEO Artie Starrs purchased 10,000 shares of Harley-Davidson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.89 per share, for a total transaction of $258,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $647,250. This trade represents a 66.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gayle Littleton purchased 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.38 per share, for a total transaction of $197,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $197,850. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 57,500 shares of company stock worth $1,439,550 and sold 4,667 shares worth $119,423. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Harley-Davidson stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,508,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,021,123. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $26.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.56. Harley-Davidson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.09 and a 1-year high of $29.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 6.28%. The firm's revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Harley-Davidson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.01%.

About Harley-Davidson

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.

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