J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Given Underweight Rating at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their underweight rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $200.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $190.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $201.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.74.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $275.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.69, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.29. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1-year low of $130.12 and a 1-year high of $294.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $267.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.13.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 27.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,252.70. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 7,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.91, for a total value of $2,002,040.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 23,982 shares in the company, valued at $6,281,125.62. This trade represents a 24.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 18,119 shares of company stock valued at $4,736,095 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summitry LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 232 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,827,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.