J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-four analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $205.9091.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $228.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $229.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $217.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.37. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $236.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $21.72 billion, a PE ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.22.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 16.33%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.32%.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 3,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $613,584.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 90,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,241,526.46. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ronald Greer Woodruff sold 1,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.00, for a total value of $287,937.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $831,933. This trade represents a 25.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 25,945 shares of company stock valued at $5,656,495 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after buying an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $765,862,000 after acquiring an additional 84,149 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,780,000 after acquiring an additional 565,605 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $358,510,000 after acquiring an additional 416,167 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $216,317,000 after purchasing an additional 82,939 shares in the last quarter. 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.