Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HUBG. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 950 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Hub Group by 286.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hub Group by 803.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,888 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hub Group by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Hub Group by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hub Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ HUBG opened at $35.96 on Monday. Hub Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.75 and a 1-year high of $53.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.51 and a 200-day moving average of $41.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 1.13.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $915.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.86 million. Hub Group had a return on equity of 7.10% and a net margin of 2.64%. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hub Group, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Hub Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on HUBG. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hub Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Hub Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Hub Group from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Hub Group from $40.00 to $33.13 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Hub Group in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $41.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.68.

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.