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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $173.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.60% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on JBHT. Truist Financial lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $172.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.90.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $205.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.27. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.57. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $122.79 and a 12 month high of $206.69.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total value of $179,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 7,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,500.22. This trade represents a 12.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total transaction of $579,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,095 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,957.20. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,109 shares of company stock worth $2,688,970. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 77.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,189,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $426,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,723 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $358,510,000 after purchasing an additional 416,167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 11,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $216,317,000 after purchasing an additional 82,939 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.