Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Short Interest Up 32.6% in February

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,920,000 shares, a growth of 32.6% from the January 31st total of 10,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.6 days. Currently, 11.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HOG. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harley-Davidson from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.57.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HOG opened at $25.11 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.24. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 7.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Harley-Davidson has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $44.16.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.28). Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 9.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Harley-Davidson will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Harley-Davidson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is 21.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Harley-Davidson news, insider Luke Christopher Mansfield sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.96, for a total transaction of $88,264.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,487.80. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HOG. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Harley-Davidson by 172.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 237.9% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

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.