Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research cut shares of Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

HMC has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Honda Motor in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nomura upgraded Honda Motor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Honda Motor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Honda Motor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Honda Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Honda Motor has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Honda Motor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HMC traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $24.46. 366,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,400,936. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.43. Honda Motor has a one year low of $23.25 and a one year high of $34.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.05 and its 200 day moving average is $29.67.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $29.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.34 billion. Honda Motor had a return on equity of 4.01% and a net margin of 2.34%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Honda Motor will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Honda Motor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Honda Motor by 2.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,572,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,633,000 after purchasing an additional 205,016 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Honda Motor by 5,004.4% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 8,583,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,303,000 after purchasing an additional 8,414,952 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in Honda Motor in the third quarter worth $136,637,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Honda Motor by 34.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,200,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,245 shares during the period. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in Honda Motor by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 2,648,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,087,000 after purchasing an additional 590,128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.32% of the company’s stock.

Honda Motor Company Profile

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. is a global manufacturer and mobility company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa. The company’s core businesses include the design, manufacture and sale of automobiles and motorcycles, along with a diverse portfolio of power products, engines and related components. Honda also operates in aviation through Honda Aircraft Company and offers financial services that support vehicle sales and leasing.

In automobiles, Honda is known for a range of passenger cars, crossovers and light trucks, and in motorcycles it is one of the world’s leading producers by volume and model breadth.