C.H. Robinson Worldwide Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CHRW)

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 3,772 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 91% compared to the typical volume of 1,979 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CHRW. StockNews.com upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upgraded C.H. Robinson Worldwide from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, C.H. Robinson Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.67.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ CHRW traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $106.34. 341,828 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,586,317. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a one year low of $65.00 and a one year high of $106.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $97.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.07. The company has a market capitalization of $12.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.82.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The transportation company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 27.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that C.H. Robinson Worldwide will post 4.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is an increase from C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael John Short sold 10,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.38, for a total transaction of $1,071,751.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,979,372.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHRW. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 94.8% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 300 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 28,147 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 168.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 295 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.9% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 24,492 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.15% of the company’s stock.

About C.H. Robinson Worldwide

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services, and related logistics and supply chain services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: North American Surface Transportation and Global Forwarding. The company offers transportation and logistics services, such as truckload, less than truckload transportation brokerage services, which include the shipment of single or multiple pallets of freight; intermodal transportation that comprises the shipment service of freight in containers or trailers by a combination of truck and rail; and non-vessel operating common carrier and freight forwarding services, as well as organizes air shipments and provides door-to-door services.