How Should Investors Approach C.H. Robinson Post Latest Dividend Hike?

Early this month, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW) stated that its board of directors had announced an increase in its quarterly dividend payout, reflectingthe company’s commitment to boosting shareholder value, apart from underlining confidence in its business.

Dividend-paying stocks provide a solid income stream and have fewer chances of experiencing wild price swings. Dividend stocks are safe bets for creating wealth, as the payouts generally act as a hedge against economic uncertainty, like the current scenario. 

Given this backdrop, the question that naturally arises is: Should investors buy, hold, or sell CHRW stock now?A more in-depth analysis is needed to make that determination. Before diving into CHRW’s investment prospects, let’s take a glance at its financial numbers.

CHRW’s Recent Dividend Increase of 1.6%

On Nov. 6, 2025, CHRW’s board of directors approved a dividend hike of 1.6%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to 63 cents per share ($2.52 annualized) from 62 cents ($2.48 annualized). The raised dividend will be paid out on Jan. 5, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 5, 2025. The move reflects CHRW’s intention to utilize free cash to enhance its shareholders’ returns.

Notably, CHRW has been making uninterrupted dividend payments that have increased annually on a per share basis for more than 25 years. As of Nov. 5, 2025, CHRW had almost 118,403,777 shares outstanding.

We would like to remind investors that CHRW has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. C.H. Robinson rewarded its shareholders in 2022 through a combination of cash dividends amounting to $285.32 million and share repurchases worth $1.45 billion. Continuing the shareholder-friendly approach, in 2023, CHRW paid $291.56 million in cash dividends and repurchased shares worth $63.88 million. During 2024, CHRW returned $294.77 million in the form of cash dividends (did not repurchase any shares). During the first nine months of 2025, CHRW returned $227.05 million in the form of cash dividends and $240.25 million through share repurchases.

CHRW is not the only player from the Zacks Transportation sector that has rewarded its shareholders with dividend payouts or share buyback programs in 2025. To name a few, onSept. 8, 2025, Kirby Corporation’s (KEX) board of directors announced a stock repurchase authorization of up to an additional $8 million shares of common stock. With this bold initiative, KEX is not only enhancing shareholder value but also signaling confidence in its ongoing business strategy. This latest authorization is in addition to the previously announced 5 million share repurchase authorization, of which almost 0.8 million shares were available for repurchase as of Sept. 5, 2025. As a result, Kirby is now authorized to repurchase almost 8.8 million shares collectively.

On Aug. 11, 2025, Werner Enterprises, Inc. (WERN) board of directorsapproved a new share repurchase program. Per the new program, WERN is now authorized to repurchase up to5 million shares. On approval of this new program, Werner’s board has withdrawn the earlier share repurchase authorization, which had almost 1.8 million shares remaining available for repurchase as of June 30, 2025 (unveiled during WERN’s second-quarter 2025 earnings release on July 29, 2025). The new authorization is expected to continue until the company’s board announces its withdrawal.

On July 16, 2025, Union Pacific Corporation’s (UNP) board of directorsapproved a dividend hike of 3%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to $1.38 per share ($5.52 annualized) from $1.34 ($5.36 annualized). The raised dividend was paid on Sept. 30, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 29. UNP has paid dividends for 126 consecutive years.

Impressive Valuation Picture for CHRW Stock

From a valuation perspective, CHRW is trading at a discount compared to the industry, going by its forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio.

The stock has a forward 12-month P/S-F12M of 1.10X compared with 1.47X for the industry over the past five years. These factors indicate that the stock’s valuation is attractive.

CHRW P/S Ratio (Forward 12 Months) Vs. Industry

CHRW’s Price Performance

Shares of C.H. Robinson have had a good run of late, improving in double-digits over the past six months. The encouraging price performance resulted in C.H. Robinson outperforming the Zacks S&P 500 Composite as well as the Zacks transportation-services industry it belongs to.

CHRW Stock’s Six-Month Price Comparison

What Do Earnings Estimates Say for CHRW?

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for C.H. Robinson’s 2025 and 2026 earnings has been revised upward over the past 90 days. The consensus mark for first-quarter 2026 earnings has also been projected northward in the past 90 days.

Headwinds Weighing on CHRW Stock

C.H. Robinson is being hurt by weak freight demand. The top line is being dented by lower pricing in its truckload services. The lower truckload pricing reflects an oversupply of truckload capacity compared to freight demand.

Moreover, CHRW's weak liquidity position is concerning. At the end of third-quarter 2025, the company’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $136.83 million, much lower than the long-term debt of $1.18 billion. This implies that the company does not have sufficient cash to meet its current debt obligations.

To Conclude

It is understood that CHRW stock is attractively valued and has been consistently rewarding its shareholders through dividend payouts and share buybacks. We believe such shareholder-friendly initiatives should boost investor confidence and positively impact the company’s bottom line. Despite these positives, we advise investors not to buy CHRW stock now due to headwinds like weak freight demand. CHRW's weak liquidity position is also concerning.

We advise investors to wait for a better entry point. For those who already own the stock, it will be prudent to stay invested. The company’s current Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) justifies our analysis. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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