Robert W. Baird Begins Coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $169.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.44% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on JBHT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $155.00 target price (up previously from $140.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $148.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.43.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $153.02 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $140.00 and its 200 day moving average is $153.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.77, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.29. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $122.79 and a 12 month high of $200.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 4.65%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs bought 1,529 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $130.75 per share, for a total transaction of $199,916.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,847 shares in the company, valued at $12,008,995.25. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 820 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.2% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 731 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 11,165 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,905,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.