Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 783,456 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,768 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.26% of Hub Group worth $35,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HUBG. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Hub Group by 105.0% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 35,192 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 18,023 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Hub Group by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,792 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 22,542 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Hub Group during the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in Hub Group by 509.7% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 25,546 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 21,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its stake in shares of Hub Group by 84.5% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 26,627 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,151,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the last quarter. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Hub Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Hub Group in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Hub Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hub Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Hub Group Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HUBG opened at $49.96 on Tuesday. Hub Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.28 and a 52-week high of $50.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $986.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Hub Group had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 7.44%. Hub Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Hub Group, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Hub Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.41%.

About Hub Group

Hub Group, Inc, a supply chain solutions provider, offers transportation and logistics management services in North America. The company's transportation services include intermodal, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, temperature-controlled, and dedicated and regional trucking, as well as final mile, railcar, small parcel, and international transportation.