Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $475.34 and last traded at $463.75, with a volume of 124588 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $439.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HUBB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Hubbell in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $535.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Hubbell from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hubbell from $400.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Hubbell in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Hubbell from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $385.00 to $454.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $445.56.

Hubbell Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $25.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $423.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $396.41.

Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hubbell Incorporated will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hubbell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $1.32 dividend. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from Hubbell’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Hubbell’s payout ratio is presently 38.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hubbell news, CEO Gerben Bakker sold 15,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.34, for a total value of $5,868,528.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 66,415 shares in the company, valued at $24,861,791.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HUBB. Nvwm LLC purchased a new stake in Hubbell during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hubbell during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Hubbell in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Hubbell in the third quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Hubbell by 84.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.16% of the company’s stock.

Hubbell Company Profile

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.