J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $175.00 to $195.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

JBHT has been the topic of several other reports. Loop Capital raised their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $151.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $182.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The company has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $175.60 and its 200-day moving average is $168.23.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.27%.

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

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $275,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,275. This trade represents a 10.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total transaction of $427,262.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,550.50. This represents a 35.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,314 shares of company stock worth $1,534,052 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 24.5% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 29,302 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,838,000 after acquiring an additional 5,767 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,946,628,000 after acquiring an additional 25,109 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,278 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $690,000. 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.