Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,060,000 shares, an increase of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 6,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 15.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Polaris

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Polaris by 167.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,643,000 after purchasing an additional 27,375 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Polaris by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 4,831 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Polaris during the 3rd quarter valued at about $319,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Polaris during the third quarter worth about $1,478,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Polaris by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 146,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,233,000 after buying an additional 7,265 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Polaris Price Performance

NYSE:PII traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,125,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,105. Polaris has a 52-week low of $39.79 and a 52-week high of $100.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.54.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. Polaris had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 13.78%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Polaris will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Polaris Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.30%. This is a boost from Polaris’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Polaris’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PII. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Polaris from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Polaris from $67.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Polaris from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on Polaris from $76.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Polaris from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.50.

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.