Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) Trading 3.6% Higher

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULH - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 3.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $33.51 and last traded at $33.36. 17,761 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 27,636 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ULH shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Universal Logistics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Universal Logistics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Universal Logistics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $34.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.11. The company has a market cap of $881.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.08.

Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $390.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $377.30 million. Universal Logistics had a return on equity of 18.58% and a net margin of 5.59%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Universal Logistics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Universal Logistics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Logistics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Universal Logistics by 16.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115,321 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $53,264,000 after purchasing an additional 295,701 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Universal Logistics by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Universal Logistics during the third quarter valued at $253,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Universal Logistics during the third quarter valued at $171,000. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Universal Logistics by 49.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 45,000 shares during the period. 25.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Universal Logistics Company Profile

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.