J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the transportation company on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 15.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a payout ratio of 20.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $8.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.7%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $162.01. 1,241,232 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 997,345. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $192.83 and its 200-day moving average is $192.05. The firm has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.11. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a twelve month low of $160.07 and a twelve month high of $219.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patrick J. Ottensmeyer bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $202.99 per share, with a total value of $1,014,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,014,950. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, CFO John Kuhlow sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $745,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,244,381. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patrick J. Ottensmeyer acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $202.99 per share, with a total value of $1,014,950.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,950. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,454 shares of company stock valued at $3,283,219 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on JBHT. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $218.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $218.00 to $199.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $210.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.24.

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.