J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $161.90.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JBHT. Stephens cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $196.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $148.00 price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $140.90 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $200.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.30.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Nicholas Hobbs purchased 1,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $130.75 per share, for a total transaction of $199,916.75. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,008,995.25. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 19,600.0% in the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 167.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 235 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.