Polaris (NYSE:PII) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $49.48, but opened at $56.15. Polaris shares last traded at $60.13, with a volume of 582,161 shares.

The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Polaris had a negative net margin of 1.57% and a positive return on equity of 5.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PII has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Polaris from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Polaris from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Polaris from $33.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Polaris in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Polaris from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Polaris

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Polaris by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Polaris by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 13,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Polaris during the fourth quarter worth about $611,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Polaris by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,642,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,119,000 after purchasing an additional 39,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Polaris during the fourth quarter worth about $24,659,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Polaris Trading Down 8.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of -28.23 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

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.