Polaris (NYSE:PII) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Polaris (NYSE:PII) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on PII. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Polaris from $87.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Polaris from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Polaris from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Polaris presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.09.

Polaris Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Polaris stock opened at $68.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 1.52. 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 has a one year low of $64.56 and a one year high of $100.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.84.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. Polaris had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 2.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Polaris will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Polaris Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Polaris’s payout ratio is 73.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Polaris

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake 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 valued at $188,371,000 after acquiring an additional 69,844 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Polaris by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,039,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,516,000 after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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. boosted its stake in shares of Polaris by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 555,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,232,000 after purchasing an additional 171,366 shares during 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 worth $30,307,000 after purchasing an additional 292,992 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Polaris

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.