Bank of America Cuts J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Price Target to $225.00

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its target price trimmed by Bank of America from $228.00 to $225.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Argus upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Evercore set a $222.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $199.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $215.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $122.79 and a one year high of $236.00.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 29.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ronald Greer Woodruff sold 331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.57, for a total transaction of $74,663.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $906,565.83. The trade was a 7.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.68, for a total transaction of $225,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,046,668.08. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,945 shares of company stock valued at $5,656,495. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 232 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 178 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 798 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.