Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires Shares of 15,701 J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 15,701 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,374,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $581,567,000 after acquiring an additional 22,563 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $566,944,000 after purchasing an additional 19,826 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $163,237,000 after purchasing an additional 503,324 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 790,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $134,828,000 after buying an additional 37,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 641,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,524,000 after buying an additional 8,997 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $147.05 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.16. The company has a market cap of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.90 and a 1 year high of $200.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. 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 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBHT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.80.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company 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.