J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $265.36 and last traded at $263.32, with a volume of 56558 shares. The stock had previously closed at $258.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JBHT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $248.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, May 11th. Argus set a $285.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.17.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $231.69 and a 200 day moving average of $211.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $25.21 billion, a PE ratio of 41.39, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.28.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.86%.

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

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total value of $318,954.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,002,802. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total transaction of $516,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,752.80. The trade was a 30.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 18,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,628,850 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,993 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth about $200,587,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,580,000 after buying an additional 1,005,047 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 338.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 823,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $110,434,000 after acquiring an additional 635,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 272.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 747,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $145,245,000 after acquiring an additional 546,880 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.