Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. (NYSE:CVLG) Short Interest Up 53.5% in August

Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. (NYSE:CVLG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 1,003,778 shares, a growth of 53.5% from the July 30th total of 653,929 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 209,432 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 6.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Covenant Logistics Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Covenant Logistics Group by 4,544.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 683,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,203,000 after purchasing an additional 668,922 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Covenant Logistics Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,456,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Covenant Logistics Group by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 714,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,748,000 after purchasing an additional 227,216 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Covenant Logistics Group by 161.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 179,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,981,000 after purchasing an additional 110,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Covenant Logistics Group by 655.0% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 110,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after buying an additional 95,556 shares during the last quarter. 83.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Covenant Logistics Group Stock Down 0.4%

CVLG traded down $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $35.21. 2,567 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,626. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.44. Covenant Logistics Group has a 52-week low of $18.00 and a 52-week high of $49.88. The company has a market cap of $893.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 320.12 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Covenant Logistics Group (NYSE:CVLG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $332.87 million during the quarter. Covenant Logistics Group had a net margin of 0.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Covenant Logistics Group will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CVLG shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Covenant Logistics Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday. National Bank Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Covenant Logistics Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price target on shares of Covenant Logistics Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Covenant Logistics Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Covenant Logistics Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Covenant Logistics Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.80.

Covenant Logistics Group Company Profile

Covenant Logistics Group provides a comprehensive suite of transportation and logistics services across North America. The company’s core offerings include less‐than‐truckload (LTL) and full truckload hauling, temperature‐controlled freight, intermodal transportation and freight brokerage. Covenant also delivers specialized solutions such as expedited “hot‐shot” deliveries, cross‐border shipping to Canada and Mexico, and dedicated contract carriage for time‐sensitive or high‐value shipments.

With a network of service centers, terminals and partner carriers strategically located throughout the United States, Covenant supports diverse industries including food and beverage, automotive, retail, energy and manufacturing.