Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $471.50.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HUBB shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hubbell from $455.00 to $450.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Hubbell from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Hubbell from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $493.00 to $473.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Hubbell from $402.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Hubbell in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $535.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HUBB. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Hubbell by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 65 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Hubbell by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 6,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Hubbell during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Hubbell during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Hubbell by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.16% of the company’s stock.

Hubbell Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Hubbell stock opened at $395.20 on Wednesday. Hubbell has a fifty-two week low of $346.13 and a fifty-two week high of $481.35. The firm has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $425.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.73.

Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Hubbell had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 13.82%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.69 earnings per share. Hubbell’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hubbell will post 17.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hubbell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $1.32 dividend. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Hubbell’s payout ratio is currently 36.77%.

Hubbell declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hubbell Company Profile

Hubbell Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells electrical and utility solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Electrical Solutions and Utility Solutions. The Electrical Solution segment offers standard and special application wiring device products, rough-in electrical products, connector and grounding products, lighting fixtures, and other electrical equipment for use in industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities by electrical contractors, maintenance personnel, electricians, utilities, and telecommunications companies, as well as components and assemblies.