Benchmark Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG)

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $47.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock.

HUBG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Hub Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Hub Group from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Hub Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Hub Group from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Hub Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HUBG traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $43.25. 491,369 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,019. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.44. Hub Group has a 52 week low of $33.38 and a 52 week high of $48.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57 and a beta of 0.88.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last posted its quarterly 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. Hub Group had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 2.74%. The firm had revenue of $986.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hub Group will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued 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 1.16%. Hub Group’s payout ratio is currently 28.41%.

Institutional Trading of Hub Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Hub Group by 65.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 711 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Hub Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,427 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hub Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 17,327 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hub Group by 9.4% during the third quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Hub Group by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,609 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.