Saudi Central Bank Grows Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Saudi Central Bank boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,486 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $968,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3,002.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 3,133 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter worth $265,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.9% during the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,670 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retireful LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at $1,343,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on JBHT shares. Barclays lifted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $261.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 0.4%

JBHT opened at $274.78 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.12 and a 52 week high of $299.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $275.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.81. The firm has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.29.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.50%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.