Investors Purchase High Volume of Polaris Call Options (NYSE:PII)

Polaris Inc. (NYSE:PII) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 3,565 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,592 call options.

Polaris Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Polaris stock opened at $36.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.05. Polaris has a 1-year low of $30.92 and a 1-year high of $90.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.26.

Polaris (NYSE:PII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.91) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Polaris had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 1.54%. Polaris’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Polaris will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Polaris Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Polaris’s payout ratio is 372.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Polaris from $69.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Polaris from $40.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut Polaris from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W lowered Polaris from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Polaris from $54.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Polaris

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PII. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Polaris by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 169,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,745,000 after buying an additional 18,418 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Polaris by 232.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Polaris by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 28,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Polaris by 191.1% during the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 5,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Code Waechter LLC raised its stake in Polaris by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Polaris Company Profile

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.