J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $184.05.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on JBHT shares. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on 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. Bank of America cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 123.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,486 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 8,017 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 99,621 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 205,413 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,399,000 after buying an additional 28,296 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 108,590 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,713,000 after purchasing an additional 12,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 3.1 %

JBHT opened at $146.12 on Friday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $144.34 and a one year high of $200.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $162.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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 given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost 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 1.20%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.