What happened
Shares of Harley-Davidson (HOG 3.75%) notched another trading gain on Thursday, its fifth up day out of the last six, as it rose almost 4% to close at $23.58 per share.
So what
The motorcycle maker's stock has surged 65% since hitting a low of $14.31 on March 23, and while the market itself has largely made strong gains since then, there is hope that new CEO Jochen Zeitz has the wherewithal to turn around Harley-Davidson's five-year sales decline by focusing more intently on the company's core business.
The LiveWire electric motorcycle from Harley-Davidson. Image source: Harley-Davidson.
Now what
While there was seemingly no specific news to cause Harley's stock to jump yet again, Barron's reported that Zeitz and CFO John Olin recently made open-market purchases of the bike maker's stock.
Those forms were actually filed over a week ago, but investors may have missed it. Still, it's a seemingly bullish signal because it's the second such purchase Zeitz has made in the past few weeks and the first for Olin since he was appointed CFO 11 years ago.
In particular, a CFO buying stock is viewed favorably because if there's anyone who understands how well the business is running -- arguably even more so than the CEO -- it's the top finance guy.
That doesn't mean the stock will go up, and Barron's notes loan losses ate into profits last quarter and are expected to rise in the future, but investors seem to be riding that hope higher.
