J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on JBHT. Raymond James lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Cowen reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $196.00 to $193.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $194.82.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of JBHT traded down $4.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $167.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,179,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 684,503. The company has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $153.92 and a 52 week high of $216.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $185.04 and a 200 day moving average of $177.18.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 18th. The transportation company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($0.53). The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 6.54%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 9.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Alfred C. Harper sold 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total value of $1,008,749.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,196,383.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,529 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,338 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,533 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 74.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc engages in the provision of logistics solutions. It operates through the following segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS) and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight operations for rail carriers.