Short Interest in Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) Grows By 32.7%

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

Institutional Trading of Hub Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have 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 fourth 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 grew its position in Hub Group by 286.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hub Group by 803.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,888 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Hub Group by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,261 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position 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 valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.77% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

HUBG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Hub Group in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $41.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on Hub Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Hub Group from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna raised shares of Hub Group from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Hub Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.82.

Hub Group Stock Performance

HUBG stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $36.80. 529,694 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 460,871. Hub Group has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $53.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Hub Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.41%.

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.