Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 5.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,045 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $352,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JBHT. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,722.2% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 545,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,600,000 after acquiring an additional 525,729 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $152,589,000 after purchasing an additional 193,684 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 282.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 173,637 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,740,000 after purchasing an additional 128,283 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter worth $19,755,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $16,887,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total value of $525,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,476,674.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total value of $525,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,476,674.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total transaction of $427,262.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,550.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,314 shares of company stock worth $1,534,052. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBHT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $201.00 target price for the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $151.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.56.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $197.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.12 and a fifty-two week high of $219.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $174.29 and a 200-day moving average of $167.61. The stock has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.14.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 13.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.27%.

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.