Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) by 31.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 121,360 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,404 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Polaris were worth $10,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PII. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Polaris by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,262,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,371,000 after buying an additional 69,844 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Polaris by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,039,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,516,000 after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Polaris by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 983,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,994,000 after purchasing an additional 96,194 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Polaris by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 555,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,232,000 after purchasing an additional 171,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Polaris by 311.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 387,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,307,000 after buying an additional 292,992 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PII has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Polaris from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Polaris from $84.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Polaris from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Polaris from $87.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Polaris from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Polaris Stock Performance

Shares of PII opened at $57.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.47 and a 200-day moving average of $75.78. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 1.21. Polaris Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.55 and a 1 year high of $100.91.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.15). Polaris had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 2.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. Polaris’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Polaris Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Polaris Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Polaris’s payout ratio is currently 73.74%.

Polaris Company Profile

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.