J.B. Hunt Transport Services’ (JBHT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on JBHT. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $174.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a fifty-two week low of $153.12 and a fifty-two week high of $219.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total transaction of $427,262.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,050 shares in the company, valued at $786,550.50. The trade was a 35.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin Bracy sold 1,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.87, for a total transaction of $306,450.18. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,563,579.45. This represents a 16.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,136,277 in the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,133 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 388 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.8% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 341 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.