C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CHRW. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $130.00 to $127.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $130.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $111.00 price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.17.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHRW opened at $101.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.28. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $65.00 and a fifty-two week high of $114.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.67.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that C.H. Robinson Worldwide will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.42%.

Insider Activity at C.H. Robinson Worldwide

In other news, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 5,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $499,593.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,444,765.60. This trade represents a 12.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of C.H. Robinson Worldwide

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 92,841.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,007,574 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $310,742,000 after buying an additional 3,004,338 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 2,259.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,557,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $282,303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,367 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $134,833,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth approximately $102,174,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 163.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,206,207 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $124,625,000 after purchasing an additional 748,661 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.15% of the company’s stock.

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.