C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to “Buy” Rating

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $113.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $133.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $112.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.33.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Price Performance

C.H. Robinson Worldwide stock opened at $99.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a 12-month low of $65.00 and a 12-month high of $114.82.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a return on equity of 35.64% and a net margin of 2.63%. Equities analysts expect that C.H. Robinson Worldwide will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael John Short sold 10,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.87, for a total transaction of $1,143,526.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,794,507.41. This represents a 12.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 2,032 shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.81, for a total transaction of $210,941.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,469 shares in the company, valued at $3,578,226.89. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of C.H. Robinson Worldwide

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 92,841.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,007,574 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $310,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004,338 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 2,259.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,557,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $282,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,449,367 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 137.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 431,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,573,000 after purchasing an additional 249,774 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,405,718 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $155,149,000 after purchasing an additional 153,654 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,219 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $436,648,000 after buying an additional 142,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.