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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $171.30.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on JBHT shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. TD Cowen raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, December 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Webb sold 796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.11, for a total transaction of $150,531.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,968,459.67. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 15,109 shares of company stock valued at $2,688,970 over the last quarter. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 34.3% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 482 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 82.3% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,090 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after buying an additional 9,519 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 8,259 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 1,828 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 197,887 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,277,000 after acquiring an additional 40,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 28,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,196,000 after acquiring an additional 5,715 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $198.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $122.79 and a one year high of $204.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.50%.

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

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.