J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $257.16 and last traded at $253.5440, with a volume of 1252665 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $237.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $201.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Argus set a $285.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $248.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.17.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $225.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.86%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total value of $318,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,736 shares in the company, valued at $23,002,802. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer Boattini sold 2,238 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.00, for a total value of $519,216.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,862,800. This trade represents a 11.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,510 shares of company stock valued at $1,092,450. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,993 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,587,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,580,000 after buying an additional 1,005,047 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 338.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 823,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $110,434,000 after buying an additional 635,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 272.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 747,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $145,245,000 after acquiring an additional 546,880 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.