M&T Bank Corp Increases Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,716 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,167 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 38,142 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,509,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 576,159 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $98,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,199 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on JBHT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.84.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT stock opened at $154.45 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.60 and a 1 year high of $202.78. The company has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.23 and a 200 day moving average of $174.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.