California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 139,407 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,740 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $20,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter worth approximately $91,094,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 178.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 428,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,562,000 after acquiring an additional 275,017 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 1st quarter valued at $29,497,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 117.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 322,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,282,000 after purchasing an additional 173,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 11.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,408,057 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $208,322,000 after purchasing an additional 144,666 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 0.7%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $199.55 on Friday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $204.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $19.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.58, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.28.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 30.50%.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $179,540.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 7,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,264,500.22. This represents a 12.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,944. This trade represents a 33.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,109 shares of company stock worth $2,688,970 in the last three months. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on JBHT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $157.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.05.

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.