Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,968 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,946,628,000 after purchasing an additional 25,109 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,685,068 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $269,611,000 after buying an additional 105,500 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,446,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $231,416,000 after buying an additional 5,179 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $152,589,000 after acquiring an additional 193,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 887,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,336,000 after acquiring an additional 120,202 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total value of $525,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,476,674.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Persio V. Lisboa purchased 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $163.47 per share, with a total value of $98,082.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,594 shares in the company, valued at $587,511.18. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total transaction of $525,090.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,476,674.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $166.73 on Friday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $219.51. The stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.97 and a 200 day moving average of $169.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 14.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 27.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JBHT. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $185.00 to $183.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.06.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

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.