William Blair Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 835,959 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,259 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.36% of Hub Group worth $37,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Hub Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 22,781 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Hub Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,522 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hub Group by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 5,424 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in Hub Group by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 7,551 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Hub Group in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $41.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Hub Group from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Hub Group from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Hub Group from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.82.

Hub Group Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:HUBG opened at $38.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Hub Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.34 and a 52-week high of $53.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.94.

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) 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 research analysts expect that Hub Group, Inc. will post 2.2 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, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Hub Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.41%.

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.