Benchmark Reiterates Buy Rating for J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT)

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock. Benchmark’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.88% from the company’s current price.

JBHT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $151.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 2.0 %

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $174.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The stock has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.16.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total value of $427,262.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,550.50. This represents a 35.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $1,100,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,092,976.08. The trade was a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,459 shares of company stock worth $2,136,277 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter worth $36,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 47.2% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 237 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight solutions.