Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB) Receives $457.50 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $457.50.

HUBB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Hubbell from $422.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Hubbell from $352.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hubbell from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Insider Transactions at Hubbell

In related news, Director Carlos M. Cardoso sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.29, for a total value of $154,516.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $667,122.83. This represents a 18.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gerben Bakker sold 7,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.63, for a total value of $2,970,497.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,578,507.63. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hubbell

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Hubbell in the first quarter valued at $213,283,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Hubbell by 181.6% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 975,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,702,000 after purchasing an additional 628,886 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hubbell in the fourth quarter valued at $195,218,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Hubbell by 35.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,104,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $365,353,000 after purchasing an additional 287,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Hubbell by 418.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 307,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $128,620,000 after purchasing an additional 247,786 shares during the last quarter. 88.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hubbell Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE HUBB opened at $390.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $357.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $392.65. Hubbell has a 52-week low of $299.43 and a 52-week high of $481.35.

Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. Hubbell had a net margin of 13.82% and a return on equity of 28.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hubbell will post 17.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Hubbell Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.32 per share. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Hubbell’s payout ratio is presently 35.72%.

Hubbell declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.