J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $189.00 to $170.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services traded as low as $146.69 and last traded at $146.69, with a volume of 268442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.46.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This trade represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,390,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $578,572,000 after purchasing an additional 15,476 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $566,944,000 after purchasing an additional 19,826 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,124,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $362,554,000 after acquiring an additional 104,019 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,997,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $340,049,000 after acquiring an additional 8,968 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,319,637 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $225,209,000 after acquiring an additional 8,725 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.9 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $167.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.53. The company has a market capitalization of $14.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

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.