J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $168.00 to $223.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services traded as high as $208.13 and last traded at $206.1810, with a volume of 100299 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $206.33.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on JBHT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $157.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Webb sold 796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.11, for a total transaction of $150,531.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,697 shares in the company, valued at $2,968,459.67. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total value of $579,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,095 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,957.20. This trade represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,109 shares of company stock worth $2,688,970. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting J.B. Hunt Transport Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded JBHT to Overweight and raised its price target to $211, signaling analyst confidence in the shares and providing near-term support. JPMorgan raises price target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks flagged JBHT as a top-ranked momentum stock, which can attract momentum-focused buying and help sustain the recent run-up in the share price. Zacks momentum piece
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell meaningfully during December (down ~22.8% to ~2.84M shares, ~3.0% of float), which reduces immediate short-pressure and is a modest positive for the stock’s technical backdrop.
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock is in focus ahead of Q4 (Dec‑2025) earnings; multiple previews note expected revenue declines and potential headwinds from higher net interest expense — news that can increase volatility but is not yet conclusive. Zacks earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional analyst/press coverage (MSN preview and other Zacks pieces) is keeping the name prominent in screens — a neutral factor that can amplify moves in either direction around the report. MSN earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-letter commentary (Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund) highlights that high-quality value and many mid-cap names have underperformed versus speculative/momentum areas — a thematic headwind for value-oriented holders of JBHT. Heartland investor letter
• Negative Sentiment: Some data entries on short‑interest were inconsistent/erroneous in filings (a later entry showing zero shares), creating ambiguity; any renewed short buildup would be a negative risk if earnings disappoint.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after buying an additional 6,668 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 433,661 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,160,000 after acquiring an additional 13,729 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position 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 period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 23,753 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,514,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,154 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.6%

The stock has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.56, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $186.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.76.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. The company 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%.J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.50%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company 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.