Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 97,768 Shares of Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 783,456 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,768 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hub Group were worth $35,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Hub Group by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 711 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Hub Group during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hub Group during the second quarter valued at $70,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Hub Group in the third quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in Hub Group by 24.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Hub Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Hub Group from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Hub Group from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Hub Group in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Hub Group from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Hub Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HUBG opened at $43.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.28. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.07 and a 12-month high of $53.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75 and a beta of 0.91.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Hub Group had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $986.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Hub Group, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Hub Group’s payout ratio is currently 28.41%.

Hub Group Profile

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.