Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Universal Logistics from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th.

Universal Logistics Stock Up 39.4 %

ULH stock opened at $45.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.58. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Universal Logistics has a fifty-two week low of $20.85 and a fifty-two week high of $48.63.

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

Universal Logistics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Universal Logistics’s payout ratio is 9.17%.

Institutional Trading of Universal Logistics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ULH. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 worth $53,264,000 after purchasing an additional 295,701 shares during the period. Scopus Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Universal Logistics by 49.7% in the third 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. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Universal Logistics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Universal Logistics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 799,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,400,000 after purchasing an additional 12,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Universal Logistics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $253,000. 25.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.