J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $162.00.

JBHT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $148.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Nicholas Hobbs purchased 1,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $130.75 per share, for a total transaction of $199,916.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,008,995.25. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 428.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,263,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $215,610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,295 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter worth about $146,618,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,853,092 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $718,015,000 after acquiring an additional 616,986 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 16,964.6% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 610,059 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $104,113,000 after acquiring an additional 606,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $163,237,000 after acquiring an additional 503,324 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $137.42 on Friday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $200.40. The company has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. On average, equities research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.94%.

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.