Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 703,200 shares, a growth of 32.7% from the February 13th total of 529,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 555,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Hub Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Hub Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,489,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,148,000 after acquiring an additional 20,215 shares during the period. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in Hub Group in the fourth quarter worth about $95,105,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Hub Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,838,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $81,915,000 after purchasing an additional 23,674 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $67,383,000 after purchasing an additional 10,328 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Hub Group by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,147,499 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,133,000 after buying an additional 499,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.77% of the company’s stock.

Hub Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ HUBG opened at $37.08 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.99. Hub Group has a 1 year low of $36.34 and a 1 year high of $53.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. Hub Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 7.10%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hub Group will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Hub Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUBG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Hub Group in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Hub Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded shares of Hub Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hub Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.82.

Hub Group Company Profile

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.