Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) Trading Up 8.7% – Time to Buy?

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) shot up 8.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $185.00 and last traded at $187.76. 62,134 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 137,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Charles River Associates from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Barrington Research boosted their price target on Charles River Associates from $239.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Charles River Associates in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $245.00.

Charles River Associates Stock Up 8.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $191.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.04.

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.01. Charles River Associates had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 26.15%. The business had revenue of $196.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.54 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Charles River Associates will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles River Associates Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Charles River Associates’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Charles River Associates in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Charles River Associates during the third quarter valued at $217,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Charles River Associates during the 4th quarter worth about $401,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Charles River Associates by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 3,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Charles River Associates by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.13% of the company’s stock.

Charles River Associates Company Profile

Charles River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI) is a global consulting firm specializing in economic, financial and management advisory services. Founded in 1965 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company provides expert analysis to support litigation, regulatory proceedings, and strategic decision-making. Its multidisciplinary teams draw on academic rigor and industry experience to deliver quantitative and qualitative insights tailored to clients’ needs.

The firm’s service offerings include competition economics, antitrust and merger analysis, intellectual property valuation and damages assessment, and risk management.