Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Boosts Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 70.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 9,416 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $3,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Research Partners LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Trust Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 10.5% during the third quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 4,897 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at $1,420,000. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at $786,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.1% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,132,000 after purchasing an additional 7,001 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $199.93 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $215.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $236.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 29.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 4,028 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.13, for a total transaction of $906,823.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,395 shares in the company, valued at $6,842,826.35. This trade represents a 11.70% 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 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.68, for a total transaction of $225,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,046,668.08. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,945 shares of company stock worth $5,656,495. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, January 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $201.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Vertical Research downgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $222.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.27.

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.