C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) Short Interest Up 10.1% in January

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,320,000 shares, a growth of 10.1% from the January 15th total of 4,830,000 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of CHRW opened at $99.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a 12 month low of $65.00 and a 12 month high of $114.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $103.73 and its 200-day moving average is $104.63. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.82.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a return on equity of 34.53% and a net margin of 2.63%. Equities analysts expect that C.H. Robinson Worldwide will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 2,032 shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.81, for a total value of $210,941.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,578,226.89. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On C.H. Robinson Worldwide

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,535,174 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,501,774,000 after buying an additional 251,943 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,147,830 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $428,554,000 after acquiring an additional 191,611 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,168,030 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $326,549,000 after acquiring an additional 64,019 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 92,841.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,007,574 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $310,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004,338 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,899,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $299,582,000 after purchasing an additional 593,211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHRW has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $97.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded C.H. Robinson Worldwide from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $130.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.17.

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.