Hub Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:HUBG)

Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 9,000 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 5,163% compared to the average volume of 171 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Hub Group by 265.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Hub Group during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Hub Group by 271.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Hub Group by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hub Group by 333.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. 46.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hub Group Price Performance

HUBG opened at $46.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Hub Group has a twelve month low of $32.46 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.87.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Hub Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HUBG. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $55.00) on shares of Hub Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Hub Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hub Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hub Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Hub Group from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.14.

Hub Group Company Profile

Hub Group, Inc (NASDAQ: HUBG) is a leading supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. Founded in 1971 as Hub City Terminals and renamed Hub Group in 1978, the company completed its initial public offering in 2007. Over the decades, Hub Group has developed a comprehensive multimodal transportation network, leveraging partnerships with major rail carriers and an extensive drayage fleet to offer cost-efficient, sustainable shipping alternatives.

The company operates through two primary segments: Intermodal and Transportation Management.