NorthRock Partners LLC Takes $403,000 Position in Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII)

Key Points

• NorthRock Partners LLC purchased 9,847 shares of Polaris Inc. valued at approximately $403,000 during the first quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Polaris reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.40, surpassing estimates significantly, but experienced a 5.5% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67, which represents a 5.4% yield, despite a negative payout ratio of -142.55%.

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Polaris by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,156,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,725,000 after buying an additional 388,050 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Polaris by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,642,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,119,000 after purchasing an additional 39,858 shares during the period. RWWM Inc. grew its holdings in Polaris by 169.2% in the first quarter. RWWM Inc. now owns 2,395,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,053,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,351 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Polaris by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,284,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,609,000 after purchasing an additional 21,087 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Polaris by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,070,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,702,000 after purchasing an additional 162,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PII shares. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Polaris from $55.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Polaris from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Polaris from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Polaris in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price target on shares of Polaris from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.33.

Polaris Stock Performance

NYSE:PII traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $52.93. 558,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,738,346. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.59. Polaris Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.92 and a 52 week high of $87.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.11 and a beta of 1.04.

Polaris (NYSE:PII - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.35. Polaris had a positive return on equity of 5.16% and a negative net margin of 1.57%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Polaris's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Polaris Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Polaris's payout ratio is currently -142.55%.

About Polaris

Polaris Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets powersports vehicles in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Off-Road, On-Road, and Marine. The company offers off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles and side-by-side vehicles; military and commercial ORVs; snowmobiles; motorcycles; and moto-roadsters, quadricycles, and boats.