J.B. Hunt Transport Services’ (JBHT) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $195.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $151.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT stock opened at $174.29 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $180.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.27. 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 market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,092,976.08. The trade was a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total transaction of $26,494.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,904. This represents a 17.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,136,277. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 126,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.