Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $52.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Hub Group traded as high as $50.58 and last traded at $50.07, with a volume of 16116 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.15.

HUBG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Hub Group from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Hub Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Hub Group from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Hub Group in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Hub Group from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hub Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hub Group by 99.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,883,930 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $297,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427,047 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Hub Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,489,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,148,000 after purchasing an additional 20,215 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hub Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,356,564 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $101,450,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Hub Group by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,836,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $79,055,000 after purchasing an additional 298,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Hub Group by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,322,166 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,919,000 after purchasing an additional 76,431 shares during the last quarter. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hub Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Hub Group had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 2.74%. The company had revenue of $986.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Hub Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hub Group, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hub Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. 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.