HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.88 Million Stock Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 71.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,684 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 4,043 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 178 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Certuity LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 216 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JBHT. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $248.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $216.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $201.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.17.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT stock opened at $279.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $239.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.18. The stock has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a PE ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.12 and a 1 year high of $279.92.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 27.86%.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total transaction of $1,017,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,213,045.04. This represents a 31.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total value of $516,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,752.80. This trade represents a 30.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,916 shares of company stock worth $4,109,634. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.