Citigroup Raises Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) Price Target to $39.00

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Citigroup from $37.00 to $39.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 1.44% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Harley-Davidson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Harley-Davidson Price Performance

NYSE HOG traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.57. 428,239 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,688,508. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.77. Harley-Davidson has a 1 year low of $25.43 and a 1 year high of $44.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.44.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.23. Harley-Davidson had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Harley-Davidson will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harley-Davidson announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 19.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Harley-Davidson

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Harley-Davidson by 95.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. American National Bank bought a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Harley-Davidson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 85.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.