Short Interest in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) Increases By 10.1%

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,420,000 shares, an increase of 10.1% from the February 29th total of 7,650,000 shares. Currently, 7.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Price Performance

NASDAQ CHRW traded down $1.12 on Tuesday, reaching $72.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,165,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,673,219. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a twelve month low of $69.11 and a twelve month high of $106.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm's 50 day moving average is $75.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.49. The stock has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.72.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. C.H. Robinson Worldwide had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that C.H. Robinson Worldwide will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On C.H. Robinson Worldwide

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,038,084 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,212,750,000 after purchasing an additional 174,041 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,482,897 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $819,227,000 after buying an additional 59,016 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 4.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,916,720 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $891,417,000 after buying an additional 365,084 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 0.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,653,783 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $263,167,000 after acquiring an additional 22,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide by 15.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,147,744 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $184,985,000 after acquiring an additional 280,177 shares during the period. 93.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays restated 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Susquehanna raised their price target on C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, C.H. Robinson Worldwide has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.93.

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.

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