J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Short Interest Update

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,640,000 shares, a decline of 18.5% from the April 30th total of 3,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $136.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.05. The firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.33. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $200.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JBHT. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $150.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs purchased 1,529 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $130.75 per share, with a total value of $199,916.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,008,995.25. This represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the first quarter valued at $6,658,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.8% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 12,478 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 624,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $92,399,000 after purchasing an additional 6,929 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 23.1% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 65,660 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,714,000 after purchasing an additional 12,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.