Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stock Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 968,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 17,092 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.03% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $205,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $765,862,000 after purchasing an additional 84,149 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $729,780,000 after purchasing an additional 565,605 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,317,000 after buying an additional 82,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $200,587,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $299.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $261.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.30.

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

In related news, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total transaction of $426,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 790 shares in the company, valued at $225,252.70. This represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,847 shares of company stock worth $4,162,861. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 0.4%

JBHT opened at $288.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $278.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.29. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.12 and a fifty-two week high of $299.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 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 firm had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 25.50%.

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.