Harley-Davidson’s profits fall as motorbike sales decline

Third-quarter 2015 earnings per share were $0.69 compared to EPS of $0.69 in the year-ago period. “It’s good they’re putting more investment in that”. Zacks raised shares of Harley-Davidson from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th.

According to data compiled by Thomson Reuters, Harley-Davidson’s stock is covered by 13 equity analysts across the Street, with 0 analysts giving it a Sell rating, 12 a Buy rating while 9 consider it a Hold.

The report from Harley highlighted weakness in discretionary spending, specifically for USA consumers. The year to date revenue from general merchandise sales increased 1.5 percent compared to the same period the prior year. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,265,473.56.

Growing new ridership in the U.S. Harley-Davidson has a 52 week low of $46.52 and a 52 week high of $70.41. But just because a company is not expected to grow does not mean that it is not a good investment. The 52-week low of the share price is $50.64. The shares opened for trading at $55.15 and hit $55.49 on the upside, eventually ending the session at $55.41, with a gain of 0.8% or 0.44 points.

As a result, Harley-Davidson said it was cutting its full-year shipment outlook.

It continues to be a rough ride for Harley-Davidson with the Milwaukee motorcycle manufacturer’s third quarter earnings drawing a plethora of pun-filled headlines of doom and gloom. An amount of recalls in the last three-quarters outstripped recalls in the last three years. These growth expectations will likely be revised lower. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.0% on a year-over-year basis.

HOG and Harley-Davidson Incorporated performance over the last 6 months. But what about the dividend yield? The shares have received an average rating of 2.24 from 17 brokerage firms.

Dealer sales were up 5.1% in Asia and 2.4% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa but fell 12% in Latin America and 1.7% in Canada.

So how does Harley-Davidson plan on pulling a Steppenwolf and get its motor runnin’ again? In a report issued on October 13, Stifel Nicolaus also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $71 price target. In other words, investors in GM receive 79% more income than investors in HOG. It should be noted that upper management at Harley-Davidson isn’t completely willing to pass on the buck. The company is expanding its product portfolio to increase its customer base. We’ve already seen GM’s business come under severe stress during the last economic crisis.