American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 23.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 208,655 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,131 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.22% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $29,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JBHT. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 202 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 418.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 223 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.9% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 306 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 38.6% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,192,944. This represents a 33.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JBHT. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $172.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $173.95 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.26. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.79 and a 12 month high of $192.42.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 30.50%.

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.