J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $190.11.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen increased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $182.40 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.84. The company has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1-year low of $153.12 and a 1-year high of $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.65%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.27%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total value of $427,262.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,550.50. This represents a 35.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin Bracy sold 1,614 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.87, for a total transaction of $306,450.18. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,579.45. This trade represents a 16.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,314 shares of company stock worth $1,008,962 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 29,302 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,838,000 after buying an additional 5,767 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 190,689 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,861,000 after buying an additional 3,910 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter worth $690,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.