Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Universal Truckload Services (NASDAQ: UACL), a North American provider of trucking and logistics solutions, jumped as much as 12% after receiving an upgrade from BB&T Capital Markets.
So what: According to BB&T Capital Markets, Universal Truckload's product offerings should broaden and its gross margins should improve following its $335 million purchase of privately held LINC Logistics, announced last year. BB&T upgraded Universal Trucking to a buy from a hold and set its price target at $33, implying 32% upside based on Friday's closing price.
Now what: As usual, the first thing you need to do is not allow the extremely short-term movements of analysts to cloud your long-term investing thesis. In the case of Universal Truckload, it's going to be a bumpy ride but management seems to have the steering wheel pointed in the right direction. The purchase of LINC adversely affected the company's bottom line because of a change in tax code last quarter and Universal could suffer as it sheds lower margin and unprofitable operations. However, I do see value in the LINC purchase and feel, after a moderate pullback, that this could be a name worth keeping an eye on in the trucking sector.
Craving more input? Start by adding Universal Truckload Services to your free and personalized Watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.
