J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.45

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the transportation company on Friday, August 21st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 22 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a dividend payout ratio of 25.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $9.74 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.5%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 0.3%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $292.24 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $277.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.59. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a twelve month low of $130.12 and a twelve month high of $299.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.39, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 18.75% and a net margin of 5.31%.The business had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JBHT. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $261.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $286.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $345.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.30.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.