Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 6,139 call options on the company. This is an increase of 116% compared to the average volume of 2,842 call options.

Harley-Davidson Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE HOG traded up $1.10 on Monday, reaching $43.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,794,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,562. The stock's 50 day moving average is $38.69 and its 200-day moving average is $34.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Harley-Davidson has a 52 week low of $25.43 and a 52 week high of $44.16.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.14. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 22.00% and a net margin of 12.11%. The business had revenue of $791.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $875.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Harley-Davidson will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Harley-Davidson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Harley-Davidson's payout ratio is presently 14.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 1.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,727,257 shares of the company's stock worth $501,454,000 after buying an additional 194,089 shares during the period. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 2.2% during the second quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 7,659,467 shares of the company's stock worth $269,689,000 after buying an additional 166,961 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,206,167 shares of the company's stock worth $265,398,000 after buying an additional 659,654 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 0.4% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,355,504 shares of the company's stock worth $177,053,000 after buying an additional 22,595 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,241,888 shares of the company's stock worth $193,115,000 after buying an additional 689,363 shares during the period. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HOG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harley-Davidson has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.50.

About Harley-Davidson

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.