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

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $212.00 to $220.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services traded as high as $211.26 and last traded at $209.25, with a volume of 569613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $203.50.

JBHT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Citigroup cut J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.05.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 3,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total transaction of $613,584.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 90,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,241,526.46. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 1,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.29, for a total value of $300,592.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,109.50. This trade represents a 74.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 18,147 shares of company stock worth $3,302,555 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 202 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 207 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 3.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $190.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.01.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.