J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $191.11.

JBHT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total value of $26,494.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,904. This trade represents a 17.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $1,100,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 82,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,092,976.08. The trade was a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,545 shares of company stock worth $1,898,942 in the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of JBHT. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $157.82 on Tuesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $153.12 and a one year high of $204.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $170.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.65%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.