Short Interest in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Expands By 9.2%

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,480,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the March 15th total of 6,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HOG. Citigroup upped their target price on Harley-Davidson from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Harley-Davidson presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.67.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HOG. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 95.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

HOG traded down $0.61 on Monday, reaching $39.10. 1,239,223 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,643,349. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 8.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Harley-Davidson has a twelve month low of $25.43 and a twelve month high of $44.16. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $39.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.58.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $875.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Harley-Davidson will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.1725 dividend. This is a boost from Harley-Davidson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Harley-Davidson's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.32%.

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.