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

Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

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

Universal Logistics Price Performance

Universal Logistics stock opened at $45.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.70 and its 200 day moving average is $29.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Universal Logistics has a 52-week low of $20.85 and a 52-week high of $48.63.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Logistics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Universal Logistics by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115,321 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,264,000 after buying an additional 295,701 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Universal Logistics by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Universal Logistics in the 3rd quarter worth about $253,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Universal Logistics in the 3rd quarter worth about $171,000. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Universal Logistics by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 135,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,412,000 after buying an additional 45,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.50% of the company’s stock.

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.