Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 170,264 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 777.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 192,178 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,264 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $25,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after purchasing an additional 272,594 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $296,383,000 after buying an additional 11,637 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after buying an additional 1,447,993 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,408,057 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $208,322,000 after buying an additional 144,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,347,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $199,364,000 after acquiring an additional 27,871 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $196.42 on Friday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $204.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $172.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.28.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $172.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $172.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.04, for a total transaction of $380,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,796,029.96. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 1,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.29, for a total transaction of $300,592.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,109.50. The trade was a 74.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 15,109 shares of company stock worth $2,688,970 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.