Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 104.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,319 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 8,839 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $2,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 656 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 731 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 112,900.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (down previously from $175.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Baird R W upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Keefauver sold 989 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.97, for a total value of $150,298.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,763.62. This represents a 51.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $143.51 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $200.40. The company has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $145.39 and a 200-day moving average of $148.55.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.03). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.00%.

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.