Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) Short Interest Down 18.5% in April

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,090,000 shares, a drop of 18.5% from the March 31st total of 3,790,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 694,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 5.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Polaris Stock Performance

PII traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.81. The stock had a trading volume of 646,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,728. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $92.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.30. Polaris has a 1 year low of $82.00 and a 1 year high of $138.49. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Polaris (NYSE:PII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.17. Polaris had a return on equity of 31.39% and a net margin of 4.63%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Polaris will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Polaris Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Polaris's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PII. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Polaris from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Polaris from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Polaris in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Polaris from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Polaris in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Polaris presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.27.

Institutional Trading of Polaris

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PII. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Polaris in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Polaris in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Polaris by 536.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Polaris in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Polaris in the third quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

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.