C.H. Robinson's EPS Estimates Northbound: Time to Buy CHRW Stock?
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW) has been benefiting from its consistent shareholder-friendly initiatives, cost-cutting measures and efforts to improve productivity and efficiency to mitigate high expenses and a weaker-than-expected demand scenario.
The positive sentiment surrounding the CHRW stock is evident from the fact that the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the remaining quarters of 2024, as well as full-year 2024 earnings, has been revised upward in the past 90 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings per share (EPS) indicates growth of 28.57% and 25.15% from the respective 2023 figures.
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The company’s long-term (three-to-five years) earnings growth rate of 12% is higher than the industry’s 11.1%.
Let’s delve deeper.
Solid Financial Returns for Shareholders
CHRW has been making uninterrupted dividend payments for more than 25 years. Highlighting its pro-investor stance, C.H. Robinson’s board of directors (on Aug. 8, 2024) approved a dividend hike of 1.6%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to 62 cents per share ($2.48 annualized) from 61 cents ($2.44 annualized). This quarterly dividend of 62 cents ($2.48 annualized) per share gives C.H. Robinson a 2.47% yield at the current stock price. This company’s payout ratio is 73%, with a five-year dividend growth rate of 5.33%.
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM)
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. dividend-yield-ttm | C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. Quote
CHRW has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. During 2021, the company returned approximately $886 million to shareholders through a combination of dividends ($277 million) and share buybacks ($609 million).
Continuing the shareholder-friendly approach, C.H. Robinson rewarded its shareholders in 2022 through a combination of cash dividends ($285.32 million) and share repurchases ($1.459 billion). During 2023, CHRW repurchased shares worth $63.88 million and paid $291.56 million in cash dividends. During the first half of 2024, CHRW returned $167.1 million of cash to shareholders which includes $147.3 million in the form of cash dividends and $19.8 million through share repurchases. Such shareholder-friendly moves instill investors’ confidence and positively impact the company’s bottom line.
Dividend-paying stocks provide a solid income stream and have fewer chances of experiencing wild price swings. Dividend stocks, like CHRW, are safe bets for creating wealth, as the payouts generally act as a hedge against economic uncertainty like the current scenario.
Factors Working in Favor of CHRW Stock
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CHRW’s third-quarter and fourth-quarter 2024 revenues is pegged at $4.52 billion and $4.54 billion, which indicates an improvement of 4.1% and 4.5% from 2023’s actuals, respectively. The consensus mark for full-year 2024 and 2025 revenues also reflects year-over-year growth of 2% and 4.3%, respectively. C.H. Robinson’s top line has been benefiting from higher pricing in its ocean services and increased volume in its ocean and air services.
CHRW remains focused on cost-cutting measures and making efforts to improve productivity and efficiency to mitigate high expenses and a weaker-than-expected demand scenario. Evidently, operating expenses decreased 1.7% year over year during the first half of 2024. Personnel expenses decreased 2.6% year over year in the first half of 2024, primarily due to cost optimization efforts. Low costs on purchased transportation and related services have also resulted in a decline in operating costs. A decrease in expenses bodes well for the company’s bottom-line results.
From a valuation perspective also, CHRW is trading at a discount compared to the industry, going by its forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio.
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CHRW’s Price Performance Soars High
C.H. Robinson has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters (missed the mark in the remaining quarter), delivering an average surprise of 7.33%. Driven by this upbeat earnings performance and the positives mentioned above, CHRW shares have gained 35.4% in the past six months, outperforming its industry as well as the S&P 500, of which the company is a key member.
Additionally, CHRW’s price performance so far this year compares favorably with that of other industry players like Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR) and Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD).
Six-MonthPrice Performance
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Wrapping Up
Given the positives surrounding the CHRW stock, as highlighted throughout the write-up, we believe that investors should add CHRW stock to their portfolios for healthy returns. The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) carried by the stock supports our thesis. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR) : Free Stock Analysis Report