C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) Short Interest Up 27.7% in March

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,750,000 shares, a growth of 27.7% from the March 15th total of 8,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days. Approximately 9.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CHRW traded down $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 743,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,325. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a 12-month low of $69.11 and a 12-month high of $106.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.42 and a 200-day moving average of $80.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.72.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.30). C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.61%. The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that C.H. Robinson Worldwide will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Republic Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,605 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,095 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,567 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CHRW. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.57.

About C.H. Robinson Worldwide

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services, and related logistics and supply chain services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: North American Surface Transportation and Global Forwarding. The company offers transportation and logistics services, such as truckload, less than truckload transportation brokerage services, which include the shipment of single or multiple pallets of freight; intermodal transportation that comprises the shipment service of freight in containers or trailers by a combination of truck and rail; and non-vessel operating common carrier and freight forwarding services, as well as organizes air shipments and provides door-to-door services.