Polaris (NYSE:PII) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Polaris (NYSE:PII) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PII. Longbow Research raised shares of Polaris from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Polaris from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Polaris in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a neutral rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Polaris from $103.00 to $97.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Polaris from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $100.27.

Polaris Stock Performance

PII opened at $83.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.60. Polaris has a 1-year low of $82.00 and a 1-year high of $138.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $92.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Polaris had a return on equity of 31.39% and a net margin of 4.63%. The firm’s revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Polaris will post 7.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Polaris’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Polaris’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Polaris

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Polaris by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,757,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $640,447,000 after purchasing an additional 160,918 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Polaris by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,807,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,375,000 after purchasing an additional 48,179 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Polaris by 8.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,477,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,993,000 after purchasing an additional 202,794 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Polaris in the first quarter worth $108,890,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Polaris by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 851,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,663,000 after purchasing an additional 82,779 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.