Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) Short Interest Down 8.8% in December

by · The Markets Daily

Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG – Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a drop of 8.8% from the November 30th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 556,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hub Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hub Group by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 783,456 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,608,000 after purchasing an additional 97,768 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Hub Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,167,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,482,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,383,000 after acquiring an additional 10,328 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 199.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 117,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after acquiring an additional 78,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hub Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $286,000. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on HUBG

Hub Group Stock Performance

Shares of HUBG traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.56. 416,356 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 476,858. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Hub Group has a 52 week low of $38.07 and a 52 week high of $53.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $986.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Hub Group had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 2.74%. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hub Group will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Hub Group’s payout ratio is 28.41%.

About Hub Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

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