J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shares Bought by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,301 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $10,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 113.5% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 91,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,672,000 after acquiring an additional 48,813 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 16,964.6% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 610,059 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $104,113,000 after purchasing an additional 606,484 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 165,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter worth about $6,145,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 129.5% during the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 6,492 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JBHT shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $150.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $196.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna set a $140.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.20.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $127.12 on Tuesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a one year low of $122.79 and a one year high of $200.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.