Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULH) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $48.63 and last traded at $47.70, with a volume of 130662 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.89.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Universal Logistics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ULH shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Universal Logistics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Universal Logistics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

Universal Logistics Stock Up 39.4 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $390.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.30 million. Universal Logistics had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 23.60%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULH. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Universal Logistics by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115,321 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,264,000 after purchasing an additional 295,701 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Universal Logistics by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Universal Logistics in the third quarter worth approximately $253,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Universal Logistics in the third quarter valued at $171,000. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Universal Logistics by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 135,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 45,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 25.50% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Logistics

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc provides transportation and logistics solutions in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Colombia. The company offers truckload services, which include dry van, flatbed, heavy-haul, and refrigerated operations; domestic and international freight forwarding, and customs brokerage services.