C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $175.00 to $196.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. C.H. Robinson Worldwide traded as high as $171.57 and last traded at $171.75, with a volume of 240421 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $170.77.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $163.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $166.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $200.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.78.

Insider Activity

In other C.H. Robinson Worldwide news, insider Michael John Short sold 2,390 shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.91, for a total value of $386,964.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,930,631.78. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Castagnetto sold 45,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.70, for a total transaction of $6,866,852.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,164,778.20. The trade was a 57.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,540 shares of company stock valued at $14,721,951. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 100,735 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,666,000 after acquiring an additional 11,443 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the 2nd quarter valued at $118,976,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth $1,335,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide during the third quarter worth $999,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 16.3% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 589,485 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,561,000 after buying an additional 82,609 shares during the last quarter. 93.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.21 and a 200 day moving average of $134.64.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.11. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 3.64%.The company had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is a positive change from C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.12%.

About C.H. Robinson Worldwide

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc is a third-party logistics provider founded in 1905 and headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Originally established as a produce brokerage firm, the company has since expanded its offerings to become one of the world’s largest freight and logistics intermediaries. C.H. Robinson leverages a global network of transportation providers, technology platforms, and in-house expertise to connect shippers and carriers across multiple modes of transportation.

The company’s primary services include truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), intermodal, air and ocean freight, and managed transportation solutions.