Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $400.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Hubbell traded as high as $422.93 and last traded at $422.53, with a volume of 41450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $415.54.

HUBB has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Hubbell from $370.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Hubbell from $351.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Hubbell in a research report on Monday, March 11th. They set a "hold" rating and a $427.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Hubbell from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Hubbell in a research report on Friday, December 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $338.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $383.57.

Insider Activity at Hubbell

In related news, CFO William R. Sperry sold 14,925 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.99, for a total value of $5,268,375.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,359,965.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Hubbell news, CFO William R. Sperry sold 14,925 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.99, for a total transaction of $5,268,375.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,359,965.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gerben Bakker sold 13,355 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.13, for a total value of $4,716,051.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,286,130.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,125 shares of company stock worth $12,065,100. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hubbell in the 4th quarter valued at about $358,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Hubbell by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 15,070 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,956,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the period. Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hubbell in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hubbell by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,202,707,000 after purchasing an additional 918,808 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in shares of Hubbell by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 914 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.16% of the company's stock.

Hubbell Trading Up 2.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $376.07 and a 200-day moving average of $331.27.

Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.11. Hubbell had a return on equity of 30.82% and a net margin of 14.14%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hubbell Incorporated will post 16.41 EPS for the current year.

Hubbell Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Hubbell's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.73%.

About Hubbell

Hubbell Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells electrical and utility solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Electrical Solutions and Utility Solutions. The Electrical Solution segment offers standard and special application wiring device products, rough-in electrical products, connector and grounding products, lighting fixtures, and other electrical equipment for use in industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities by electrical contractors, maintenance personnel, electricians, utilities, and telecommunications companies, as well as components and assemblies.