Zacks Research Issues Positive Estimate for JBHT Earnings

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) – Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report issued on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the transportation company will post earnings per share of $1.43 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.41. The consensus estimate for J.B. Hunt Transport Services’ current full-year earnings is $6.37 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for J.B. Hunt Transport Services’ Q2 2026 earnings at $1.63 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.04 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $7.00 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.46 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.72 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.94 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.50 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $8.61 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $9.45 EPS.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on JBHT. Evercore ISI set a $222.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $201.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Argus raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

JBHT stock opened at $211.71 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.14. The company has a market capitalization of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a fifty-two week low of $122.79 and a fifty-two week high of $212.00.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 28.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total transaction of $579,726.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,353,957.20. The trade was a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 1,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.29, for a total value of $300,592.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,109.50. This represents a 74.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,957 shares of company stock worth $3,315,491. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.2% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,829 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,883,000 after acquiring an additional 3,890 shares during the period. Eldred Rock Partners LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC now owns 88,061 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,815,000 after purchasing an additional 9,345 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 777.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,178 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,785,000 after purchasing an additional 170,264 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 105.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,356 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 208,655 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,963,000 after purchasing an additional 40,131 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.