Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barrington Research raised their price target on the stock from $239.00 to $245.00. Barrington Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Charles River Associates traded as high as $216.06 and last traded at $215.30, with a volume of 106912 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $213.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on CRAI. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Charles River Associates in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Charles River Associates from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $245.00.

Insider Transactions at Charles River Associates

In other Charles River Associates news, EVP Jonathan D. Yellin sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.38, for a total transaction of $305,165.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,573 shares in the company, valued at $2,715,619.74. This represents a 10.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Charles River Associates

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Charles River Associates during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles River Associates by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 5,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Charles River Associates by 4.4% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Charles River Associates by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Charles River Associates by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.13% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Associates Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.90.

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $185.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.42 million. Charles River Associates had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 26.33%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Charles River Associates will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Associates Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Charles River Associates’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles River Associates’s dividend payout ratio is 27.40%.

About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI) is a global consulting firm specializing in economic, financial and management advisory services. Founded in 1965 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company provides expert analysis to support litigation, regulatory proceedings, and strategic decision-making. Its multidisciplinary teams draw on academic rigor and industry experience to deliver quantitative and qualitative insights tailored to clients’ needs.

The firm’s service offerings include competition economics, antitrust and merger analysis, intellectual property valuation and damages assessment, and risk management.