Brighton Jones LLC Increases Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 105.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,356 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,344 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JBHT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 777.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,178 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,785,000 after purchasing an additional 170,264 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.8% in the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 113,935 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,390,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 208,655 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,963,000 after buying an additional 40,131 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $244,000. Finally, Cambiar Investors LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 54,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,763,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $197.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.53. The stock has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.27. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $204.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.50%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP David Keefauver sold 1,588 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.29, for a total transaction of $300,592.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 550 shares in the company, valued at $104,109.50. This trade represents a 74.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total transaction of $579,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,957.20. This trade represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,109 shares of company stock worth $2,688,970. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on JBHT. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.