Investors Buy High Volume of Hub Group Put Options (NASDAQ:HUBG)

Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 9,000 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 5,163% compared to the average daily volume of 171 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HUBG. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Hub Group in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Hub Group from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $55.00) on shares of Hub Group in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Hub Group from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hub Group in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.14.

Hub Group Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ HUBG traded up $0.58 on Friday, reaching $46.38. The company had a trading volume of 709,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,862. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Hub Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.46 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.87.

Hub Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Hub Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Institutional Trading of Hub Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUBG. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Hub Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $139,588,000. Broad Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Hub Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,424,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hub Group by 138.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,138,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $39,209,000 after purchasing an additional 661,018 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Hub Group by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,465,688 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,673,000 after purchasing an additional 501,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Hub Group by 3,557.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 505,787 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,908,000 after purchasing an additional 491,958 shares during the last quarter. 46.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hub Group

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.