Brokerages Set J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) PT at $192.29

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $191.38.

JBHT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $234.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $199.00 to $191.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $160.00 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $161.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.15. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a fifty-two week low of $153.12 and a fifty-two week high of $219.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.31). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 5.25%. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. Research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 27.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John N. Roberts acquired 6,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $161.06 per share, for a total transaction of $998,572.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 313,955 shares in the company, valued at $50,565,592.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Trust lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 12.5% in the first quarter. American Trust now owns 17,881 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,563,000 after buying an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $496,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 130.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 4,758 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,781,000. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,593 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.