Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stake in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,257 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Harley-Davidson were worth $2,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HOG. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Harley-Davidson by 24.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Harley-Davidson by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 74,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Harley-Davidson by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Harley-Davidson by 85.9% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 12,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 5,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Harley-Davidson by 1,179.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 270,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,048,000 after buying an additional 248,986 shares during the last quarter. 85.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Harley-Davidson Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HOG opened at $35.24 on Wednesday. Harley-Davidson, Inc. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.15.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Harley-Davidson had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Harley-Davidson, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Harley-Davidson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Harley-Davidson’s payout ratio is currently 15.33%.

Harley-Davidson declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 19.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on HOG shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Baird R W lowered shares of Harley-Davidson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Harley-Davidson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Harley-Davidson from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Harley-Davidson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

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.