Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) Short Interest Up 16.2% in November

Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, an increase of 16.2% from the November 15th total of 1,170,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 517,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hub Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HUBG. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,489,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,148,000 after purchasing an additional 20,215 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Hub Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,356,564 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $101,450,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Hub Group by 19.4% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,836,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $79,055,000 after acquiring an additional 298,390 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 0.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 6.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,322,166 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,919,000 after acquiring an additional 76,431 shares in the last quarter. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hub Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of HUBG stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $49.44. The stock had a trading volume of 201,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,688. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.11 and a beta of 0.92. Hub Group has a 12-month low of $38.07 and a 12-month high of $53.21.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Hub Group had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The business had revenue of $986.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Hub Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on HUBG. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Hub Group in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen increased 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Hub Group from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Susquehanna lowered 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

About Hub Group

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.