Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $445.56.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Hubbell from $407.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hubbell from $445.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Hubbell from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $385.00 to $454.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hubbell from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Hubbell in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $535.00 price objective for the company.

Hubbell Stock Performance

HUBB stock opened at $437.61 on Monday. Hubbell has a 1-year low of $287.06 and a 1-year high of $481.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $435.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $399.80. The company has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.47 by $0.02. Hubbell had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 28.81%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hubbell will post 16.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hubbell Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $1.32 per share. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from Hubbell’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Hubbell’s payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark Eugene Mikes sold 1,144 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $533,332.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,378,553.40. This represents a 27.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hubbell

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUBB. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hubbell by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,254,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $535,681,000 after purchasing an additional 8,278 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Hubbell by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 26,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,241,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hubbell by 607.1% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Hubbell by 17.0% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 6,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hubbell by 6.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,854,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.16% of the company’s stock.

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.