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

Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,170,000 shares, an increase of 130.7% from the October 31st total of 507,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 532,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hub Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 65.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 711 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Hub Group in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Hub Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Hub Group in the second quarter worth about $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HUBG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Hub Group from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Hub Group from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Hub Group in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Hub Group Stock Performance

Shares of HUBG stock traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $51.69. The company had a trading volume of 275,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 467,937. Hub Group has a one year low of $36.88 and a one year high of $53.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Hub Group had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 2.74%. The business had revenue of $986.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Hub Group will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hub Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Hub Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.41%.

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.