J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $190.11.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on JBHT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total transaction of $427,262.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,550.50. This trade represents a 35.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,092,976.08. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,136,277 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.1% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,761 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 232.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 70.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,172 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 7,112 shares in the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% during the second quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 8,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $170.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.96, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.15. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.44.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.27%.

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.