Short Interest in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) Declines By 6.5%

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,690,000 shares, a decrease of 6.5% from the November 15th total of 10,360,000 shares. Currently, 7.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Harley-Davidson from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Baird R W lowered shares of Harley-Davidson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Harley-Davidson from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Harley-Davidson from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harley-Davidson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 4,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total value of $137,965.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,687 shares in the company, valued at $570,405.75. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harley-Davidson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOG. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Harley-Davidson during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Harley-Davidson by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Harley-Davidson by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Harley-Davidson during the 3rd quarter worth $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.10% of the company’s stock.

Harley-Davidson Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of HOG traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $32.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,264,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,918. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.88. Harley-Davidson has a fifty-two week low of $31.32 and a fifty-two week high of $44.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

Harley-Davidson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Harley-Davidson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.54%.

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.