Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 8,832 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Rating) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 221,406 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,832 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $34,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,834,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,538,341,000 after buying an additional 69,566 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.3% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,579,989 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,193,621,000 after purchasing an additional 517,629 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,772,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $279,067,000 after purchasing an additional 317,060 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,253,579 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $196,085,000 after purchasing an additional 33,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 940,315 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,085,000 after purchasing an additional 102,784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Alfred C. Harper sold 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total transaction of $1,008,749.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,196,383.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $168.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.92 and a 1-year high of $218.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $185.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.42.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 18th. The transportation company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 6.54%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 9.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JBHT. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $191.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $230.00 to $228.00 in a research note on Monday, November 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.82.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

(Get Rating)

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc engages in the provision of logistics solutions. It operates through the following segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS) and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight operations for rail carriers.