J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $286.3043.

Several analysts have weighed in on JBHT shares. Wall Street Zen raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $261.00 price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $286.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Key Stories Impacting J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Here are the key news stories impacting J.B. Hunt Transport Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: J.B. Hunt delivered Q2 earnings of $1.91 per share, topping estimates of $1.71, while revenue came in at $3.50 billion versus $3.26 billion expected. Results were driven by higher intermodal volumes, improved pricing, and cost discipline. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said intermodal performance was especially strong, with record quarterly volumes and a 22% revenue increase in the largest segment, reinforcing optimism that the freight cycle may be improving. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts turned more constructive after the report, including JPMorgan raising its target to $313 and Robert W. Baird lifting its target to $320 with an outperform rating, signaling higher expectations for JBHT’s earnings power. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Other firms also raised targets, including Citigroup to $309, Barclays to $300, and TD Cowen to $297, reflecting broad post-earnings optimism even where ratings remained neutral or hold. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts stayed cautious, with Citigroup maintaining a neutral rating, Barclays at equal weight, and TD Cowen at hold, suggesting the stock’s valuation may already reflect much of the recent improvement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: J.B. Hunt was also highlighted in market commentary and momentum-stock screens after the earnings beat, but these mentions were secondary to the fundamental catalyst from the quarterly report. Article Title

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 8.0%

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $298.41 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $273.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.87. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $130.12 and a 12 month high of $299.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $28.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.29.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.35 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, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total transaction of $426,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,510,362.81. This trade represents a 8.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total transaction of $1,017,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,696 shares in the company, valued at $2,213,045.04. The trade was a 31.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,119 shares of company stock worth $4,736,095 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after buying an additional 272,594 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,982,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $843,937,000 after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,780,000 after acquiring an additional 565,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,317,000 after acquiring an additional 82,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at $200,587,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.