Macquarie Downgrades Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) to Neutral

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Macquarie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on HMC. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Honda Motor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Honda Motor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Honda Motor in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Honda Motor has an average rating of “Hold”.

Honda Motor Stock Performance

Shares of Honda Motor stock opened at $28.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.54. Honda Motor has a 52 week low of $23.41 and a 52 week high of $33.72.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.54). The company had revenue of $36.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5,371.99 billion. Honda Motor had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 6.33%. Sell-side analysts expect that Honda Motor will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honda Motor

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Honda Motor by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 40,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Honda Motor by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 33,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Honda Motor by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Honda Motor by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 8,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 2,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Honda Motor by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares during the period. 5.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Honda Motor

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.